The Deception of Dawn
by jkcool
Summary: A mystery/adventure story about Sonic, Tails, and a few other characters thrown in the mix.   It tells the riveting tale of one hogs memories coming back to haunt him and his struggle for his survival.  This is my first ever fanfic, so hope you enjoy.
1. A sea of green

The Deception of Dawn

Where: The Great Forest

Who: Why Sonic and Tails of course!

When: No specific time stamp.

Chapter 1: A Sea of Green

"What another great day, Tails old buddy. We gave a nice beating to old Egg head, and in record time I might add. Heh, his plan was sooooo unique; did he really think I would be lured in with an amusement park? And what was up with those old goonies he threw in the mix. Well, good thing I can easily outsmart him."

"Sonic," Tails said in a whiney voice "don't bring this up again, you fell for the old chili dog rouge in the first place. Frankly I'm surprised that by now he hasn't…."

But Tails didn't get to finish his though. For at that moment the ground began to shake, a tremble that made the entire forest vibrate with vigor. The trees shook violently; there movements fierce and horrid like a hurricane. The ground had started to splinter into parts. Earth was being shaken up, the world was collapsing, and… Just like that it stopped. No stopped isn't quite the right word, ore of a halting suddenly after running into a wall at mach 5. And then that silence, the cold eerie silence in where not a single sound is heard.

"Weird…..you feel that shake?"

"No, Sonic, I think you just got hit a little too hard by old Crabmeat." Tails commented sarcastically.

"I thought we promised not to bring it up. He took me by surprise, okay." Sonic shot a stern glance at Tails. "And in any case, what's up with you little bro, you seem awfully short tempered."

"It's just that, well….oh never mind. I'm sorry Sonic. We'll… we'll be fine once we get back to New Mobotropolis." Tails muttered.

"Whatever you say…"

Sonic and Tails wondered along for hours, unsuccessful in finding a way out of the forest.

"Tails, Tails, poor broken tails Tails. Wish you hadn't hurt them during our fight with Eggman, you could just fly us out of here."

All of a sudden, something caught Sonic's eye.

"Tails, wait…"

As Sonic put his hand back to stop Tails, he felt his hand brush against something cold and smooth.

"Whoa, Tails, since when do you start wearing necklaces?"

Sonic starred at the thin golden necklace that, attached, had a small little rock. It glistened in the midafternoon sun. The stone was a nice sky blue with a golden letter, a capital N. Now normally, this would make Sonic suspicious, but his mind was preoccupied at the moment by something else.

"Oh this, I…well, you s-ee-e I wa-as…." Tails stuttered.

"Wait, I don't get it…" Sonic asked, perplexed.

"What?"

"Why aren't we back, I'm sure this is the right way. Look we have even passed the same tree several times."

"Sonic, how can you be sure? You run so past you blast past everything, how can you notice one specific tree?"

"Well aside from the fact that this is the only tree that is bent out of shape, while from the looks of the other trees you couldn't even tell there was an earthquake, my gut just says there's something about that tree."

"Sonic, I'm not sure what you're getting at. It's just a dying tree. Let's keep going."

But Sonic didn't care, he didn't think about what he was getting into, all he knew was that something was afoot. As both Tails and Sonic crept towards the tree, a hushed creaking noise came from its dying roots. But don't be mistaken by a description of this tree because of its hunch, the tree was still very tall. In fact it was about 20 feet tall if it wasn't hunched over in just that sickly position.

As Sonic looked around the tree, he noticed something peculiar. A fiery red letter was burned onto the back. It burned the letter S. He leaned forward, and just as he was about to put his hand on it to feel, a flash of light in front of him shined right in front of his eyes.

Temporarily blinded, Sonic began to tumble backwards, tripping over one of the various branches and fell to the ground. As he opened his eyes he saw stepping from the shadows none other than…

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Thanks for reading. Reviewing is greatly appreciated, so I know how I'm doing.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails or any other Sega Character. All characters are property of Sega ****or Archie Comics.**


	2. Two lies and a truth

Chapter 2:

…Silver the hedgehog. As he emerged from the light, his brilliantly bright silver quills glistened as he ran towards sonic.

He was Completely out of breath. He cried out frantically:

"So-son-, I know the per- the person."

And with that, he had used the last of his energy. Silver collapsed onto the ground beside the leaves next to Sonic. Sonic with a very bewildered look on his face quickly sprang to his feet and helped Silver up next to a tree to rest upon. After a few minutes of trying to regain his breath, Silver started to regain some of his energy.

"So, Silver this is a surprise, what bring you out here to this neck of the woods." Sonic said with a grin.

Silver's tone sounded very serious yet with a prick of fear when he replied:

"Sonic, please listen, you don't understand what is happening. You can't stay here." When speaking, Silver even had a little twitch that Sonic didn't seem to catch.

"Heh… if you know how to exit this forest…" Sonic said. He was interrupted by Silver:

"Sonic, I'm deadly serious!"

"Well, could you explain what you mean? Is old chrome dome hatching another plan?"

"No, Sonic, listen. I know who the traitor is. I been doing research, and I know," Silver swallowed deeply. "I know, I haven't been always right, but this time I mean it when I say I know who the traitor is." Silver said bravely, but not without a quick glance sideways first as if he was trying to say something with it.

Sonic sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Silver must we go through this every time you come. Can't you like, just come to relax and chill with me, maybe eat some chili dogs without having to rant about some traitor?"

Silver's patience was dwindling. Sonic could start to sense this too. Silver also seemed to be sweating more than usual. He also kept shifting his head nervously, just in a way that was almost unnoticeable.

"Uh, Silver are you alright?" Sonic said in a concerned tone.

"NOo. I just want…."

As Silver started his sentence, Sonic walked towards the old tree, took a curious glance and moved his hand towards it.

"…DON'T TOUCH THAT TREE!" Silver screamed as his eyes bugged out.

"Why not, why shouldn't I. What does have to do with the traitor, you are completely crazed. Please Silver, just relax." Sonic reasoned with him, though even he was getting nervous now.

"No Sonic, don't you see the problems are right there, you keep thinking you know where you are, but you don't. You are lost in a sea of lies and deception. It took me forever to find this dimension anyway."

"Dimension, walk do are you talking about, this is the Great Forest."

"Really, then why haven't you see New Mobotropolis by now?" Silver said in an almost shouting manner.

"I…." Sonic was at a loss for words.

Then a thud, a small tiny thud followed by a few more each getting quieter. As Sonic started to identify where the noise was coming from, he realized that it was a small golden ring that had fallen, and was now gliding on its side across the grass. It started to slow down…right in front of Silver's feet.

"Noo, not now…not again…Sonic listen… Whatever you do, don't trust T…."

That was the last sound Sonic heard from him because at that moment, a portal started to appear from the ring. The swirling vortex appeared a bright red color and began to suck in all the surrounding grass, plants, and Silver.

"Silver…wait what do you mean…WHERE AM I?"

Silver tried to get out the words out of his mouth, but it was too late as he got sucked into the vortex and vanished.

Sonic stood there blankly not knowing what to do. He looked around again and there were no signs that anything had changed, like Silver had never been there. Looking around Sonic for the first time realized how alone he was.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Came a scream of anguish not too far from Sonic.

With lighting quick speed, he ran off to see what the commotion was. Scanning the situation, he saw Tails lying on the ground.

"Owww, Sonic heeeelp!" Tails was screaming louder then Sonic had remembered. "Sh-a-a-dow did this t-oo-o me."

"What, Shadow," Sonic raised his eyebrow "why did he do this to you? How did he even find us?"

At that point Tails turned over and saw the damage. It wasn't pretty. Both of Tails tails were twisted up, one of his arms was bent the wrong way, and his was mouth was bleeding heavily.

"Tails, we need help stat. Don't move I'll find some." Sonic said, never taking his eyes off Tails.

"Don't, please, I'm fine let me just get upPPPP. Ahhhh!" Tails face was contorted as he tried to overcome the pain.

"Tails, please, you need to relax. Don't worry I'll be back soon."

Sonic began to run fast. Even fast for Sonic. The trees all bent towards him in his wake. Sonic had to find help for his Tails, he just had to. Frantic as he was, he couldn't help but notice that he kept seeing the old dying tree. Whenever he passed it a few minutes later it was there again.

"Either that tree is alive, or I'm running in circles." Sonic screamed to the sky.

The sky, Sonic had never noticed this before but the sky was off. It was like it was a backdrop for a play. The few clouds in the sky didn't move, and it seemed like the sky was frozen in time. It also was a deeper shade of blue, just slightly darker. Then looking around, he noticed something else off. The trees were the same. Not exactly identical, but they were all set up in a very systematic way of rows and columns that was not natural for a forest to have.

"Do you want to leave, Sonic?" came a wispy voice from the shadow of one of the trees.

"What, whose there. I need help, tell me what you know." Sonic said in a presumptuous way.

"Calm down big blue, it's just me." The red figure came out of the shadow and stood in front of Sonic.

"Knuckles, what's happening? How did you find me? Why did Silver say this is another dimension? Why…"

"All you need to know." Knuckles said in a cool calm voice "is that the only way off is to use the tree."

"Use what tree. The old dying one? Great idea Knuckles, let's use the tree that Silver screamed not to use before getting sucked into a vortex. Really bright."

"…." Knuckles said in a low whisper.

"What?"

"CHAOS CONTROL" and with that Knuckles vanished.

"I…he…what. Why is nothing makes sense? This is going to fast even for me. No time to sit around, I gotta find tails again.

And so Sonic began running back through the forest to find this fallen friend.

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Thanks for reading, please review what you think! Thanks :).

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails or any other Sega Character. All characters are property of Sega ****or Archie Comics.**


	3. The plot thickens, and so does the water

Chapter 3: The plot thickens (and so does the water)

After searching for what seemed like forever, Sonic finally was able to find Tails, unmoved, on the ground. Sonic's first impression was that Tails was resting, but then he realized that Tails was whispering something. He flipped Tails over ever so carefully, looked for a second, and then started to tremble. Tails was getting worse. It appeared, that he had also been hiding a deep stomach wound that that sliced him right across the middle.

"Tails, buddy, please. Are you okay?" Sonic asked helplessly.

"Sonic….where did you go?" Tails muttered out weakly.

"Look, I don't understand what is going on but we are going to get you out of here right now."

Sonic had decided that his only way of helping tails was to get out of this place was ignore Silver's warning, and so he knew what he had to do. He did not care about what happened next, he had to save Tails. He picked Tails up and carried him in his arms as he sped to the familiar dying tree. There he looked up once more at it, noticing the fine details of this once majestic being.

"Wait, Sonic you shouldn't, you shouldn't do th…" Tails said in a muffled voice before he passed out.

Then, without second thoughts, Sonic put his hand on the burned in letter S. As his skin touched the trees old dying trunk, the tree started to shake. Everything else surrounding Sonic was not moving, only the tree, by itself. Sonic could do nothing but stare as the tree begin to unbend, began to grow in size and…blackness.

Sonic was out cold.

"uhhh…wa..Tai…I…ohhhhh, my head" Sonic groaned as he tried to stand up.

As he rose to his feet, a cold, icy chill ran down his spine. It took him several seconds for his surrounding to sink in. In front of him lay and island, no more than a couple miles either way. In front of him was a path, and in the distance he could make out what seemed to be some sort of building. The sky was now a midnight blue, unfriendly and dark. The Earth below him was barren and lifeless, except for a few weeds. As he peered down the edge of the island, all he could see was darkness. Looking around once more he saw several pools of water tinted green and he shuddered. And there, standing next to him was the dying tree, back to its original desolate state.

"Well we ain't in Mobius any more Tails." Sonic laughed nervously.

Looking around he realized for the first time that Tails was not next to him.

"Tails…Tails where are you." Sonic called out "come on, your parents aren't going to be happy if I lost you."

…or got injured" he said to himself in a saddened whisper.

But the moment passed and Sonic set out to find Tails. "Better stick to the path" he thought to himself.

As Sonic sped down the rickety, dusty old pathway, he went into deep thought. Out of everything he had seen and heard today, this island had to be by far the weirdest.

Sonic thoughts turned in another direction "…and Tails, poor Tails, why did I drag him along on this mission. I shouldn't have put him in this danger. I know that he is growing, and he can handle himself, but how could I have let him get hurt."

Drawing nearer, the blurry building in the distance was blurring no more, as it got closer and closer to Sonic, the picture before him was clearer. It was a mansion. A really tall, overshadowing mansion. But except for that, nothing out of the ordinary. It looked pretty new, covered in a beige-colored paint. There were ten levels, five windows on every level, with very shiny glass. The only thing that seemed out of place was everything else that was surrounding the mansion. Sonic's dash slowed down to a slow pace as he walked up the steps of the mansion.

"Wow, the steps don't creak. At least it's not a cliché." Sonic muttered to himself trying to boost his own morale.

Sonic look at the front door and stared. The door was plain and simple, except for the golden stamp in the middle that read S-1.

"Okay, so am I supposed to knock or something?" Sonic pondered for a second. "Eggman, if this is another one of your lame traps, well considered yourself foiled."

"This isn't Eggman we are dealing with." Whispered a familiar raspy voice in Sonics ear.

"AHHHhhh!" Sonic screamed, startled by the fact that Knuckles was standing one foot away. "What the…why are you here again….why did you send me here? What do you want?"

"Look, I can't tell you much, but you must get to the top of the mansion. If you want to save Tails."

Sonic, angrily looking at Knuckles said:

"Look, Knuckles, I can't just take your word. I don't listen to Silver and I end up…"

"…not in forest anymore." Knuckles said frustrated. "Don't you see you can't trus….I've said enough. All you need to know is follow along the path. And don't trust anyone close to you. Chaos Control."

With that Knuckles vanished into thin air.

"Okay, seriously Knuckles what is with you stealing Shadow's power." Sonic shouted to the place Knuckles had been a moment ago. "And since when have you been so mysterious. I though you always get annoyed by this kind of stuff." And with that the moment had passed and Sonic resumed his examination of the door. Upon further inspection, he noticed that a few feet above the door was a ringer. One quick spin up the wall, and the doorbell was rang. The tune was light and happy, nothing you would expect from this sort of place.

The two doors opened like an elevator, moving sided to side open. As Sonic walked in, he noted that the doors didn't slam in behind him. The inside the mansion looked even better then the outside. The walls were decorated by beautiful blue and yellow wallpaper that seemed to glisten. The ceiling had many chandeliers covered in white diamonds. There were three stairways that led in opposite directions, and two doors on either side. Just then a creature with brown spots flashed before Sonics eyes and dashed into another room.

"Muttski?" Sonic asked in a questioning tone.

Sonic crept toward the open room and went in. The room was a small kitchen, with a pantry, stove and oven, and several wooden shelves and cabinets. There he saw Muttski sitting beside the refrigerator barking happily. Sonic was overwhelmed with joy. He went down and picked up Muttski. Or at least he would have, had Muttski been there. All that was in Sonics arms was air, and Muttski was nowhere to be found. Sonic started to look around frantically around for Muttski, but to no avail for he was gone.

"I really need to calm down, I'm losing it. What happened to way past cool?"

But talking to himself only got him more riled up. Like the mad speed demon that he was, he and out of the room, up the flight onto the stairs in the center and into the next chamber. Where he entered the kitchen again. Yes, the same exact kitchen.

"Why…is…this…happening?" Sonic sweat was getting more frequent.

He went back out of the kitchen for the second time, and then took the stairs on the right. The room was pitch black dark. Sonic felt around for the switch, as he bumped into several hard and solid objects. As he awkwardly worked his way to the end of the room he felt a switch, and flipped it.

What he saw shocked in. There was nothing in the room, nothing to bump into or lean against….but an old empty shell. Sonics felt his body tingle, the hairs on his skin rise (so to speak) and his mouth spaz a little.

"Soooonic, SONNICCCCC!" Wailed the empty shell.

"What do you want, what do you need?" Sonic cried out desperately.

"You Killed me….sssssss." It shrilled out.

"No please….Tommy, is that you? I didn't…I mean, you sacrificed your life, please I…"

"Silence. You cannot hide from me…I will find you…I will get you…."

"Just leave me alone Tommy, I never wanted you to get hurt." A tear in Sonics eye trickled down his face, partly from fear, partly from sadness. The turtle shell began to stand up, it started to slide towards Sonic ever so slightly until it was right on top of him.

"Go AWAY!" Sonic cried out with the last of his valor. He spun around the shell and ran out the door. He took the remaining staircase on the left and burst into the room. It was long, narrow hallway.

"_Sonic, just think, what's happening?" _Pondering for a moment and then_ "Wait, I've got it. This is a dream, it's not real. Just got to pinch myself… Ow, well so much for that theory. Where in Mobius am I?_" Sonic thought to himself.

"Right where I want you to be." A voice whispered so that Sonics could just hear. It was cold and cruel, mocking and sinister in voice.

"Hey, I didn't say that out loud, you can read me thought? Cut it out!" Sonic guard was back to its highest. He strolled down the narrow hallway, trying to take every detail he could. A small chip at the paint, a little hole, a hidden door. Anything that would give Sonic some help. But he could find no such thing. Every wall, every surface, everything was identical and unflawed. Sonic approached the door at the end of the hallway and turned the knob.

There, looking up was a spiral stair case. It could go up as far as Sonic could see. With no hesitation whatsoever, ran quickly up the staircase. And up, and up, and up. Sonic noticed after a couple of minutes that there was no way there could be this many steps in a ten story building. Finally, after what felt like eternity to Sonic he reached the top. "One last door." Sonic thought.

As he pushed the door forwards, a figure lay waiting for him…

* * *

Thanks for reading. Reviewing is greatly appreciated, so I know how I'm doing.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails or any other Sega Character. All characters are property of Sega ****or Archie Comics.**


	4. The falling hero

Chapter 4: The falling Hero

Sonic pushed the door forward, and saw a shadowy figure lying on the ground. As Sonic crept up towards it, he began to see the outline of a yellow creature.

"T-T-Tails!" Sonic spit out as he rushed by the side of his fallen friend.

There was no reply. Tails just laid there, motionless.

"Tails, are you okay? Tails, please answer me!" Sonic began to shake Tails violently. A tear trickled down his cheek. He then paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and slowly turned Tails over.

He was fine. Not just fine but cured. All this cuts were gone, his arm had healed, and even his tails were back to their former status. As Sonic examined Tails body, his eyes shifted to Tails head. Tails eyes were open. Wide open with a grin. A nice big grin that was unmoved and not shifting. His mouth zigzagged around the bottom of his face and curved up at the top in just the faintest of ways. To add to the mix, there was no blinking either, no nothing from Tails but that grin.

"uhhhhh…" Sonic tried to speak but the awkward expression on Tail's mouth made him swallow his words.

Then the smile got longer as it creeped up Tails face, into a position that Sonic did not know was possible. Or ever want to.

"Oh no," Sonic started to walk back in fear "not you too. Please Tails, stay with me. I need you to help us get out, come on."

Tails body stiffly, without any bending, began to rise from the floor. A loud thud was heard as he stood upright, looking straight into Sonic's eyes.

"Hello Sonic the hedgehog, there is no need to fear." Tails said without any change in a cold, mocking tone. "I have come to help you. Do you not recognize your loyal friend Miles Prower?"

"Tails, listen to me." Sonic pleaded "I know something has come over you, you just need to snap out of it. You're strong, you can free yourself from whoever is controlling you."

"Your statements are meaningless and have no value. I am perfectly fine and I am not being controlled. You need to just relax. All your questions will be answered if you just put on this ring."

Tails extended his arm and laid his palms flat to reveal a small ring, made of a blue sapphire. The ring itself was plain excluding the Green symbols that was carved in the middle that read Silvr.

"Try it, it's liberating."

"No." Sonic said decisively "I'm n-nn-ot gonna fight you, but I'm not going to listen to anything else you have to say."

Sonic looked at Tails and took a firm position, trying to anticipate what Tails next move might be.

"Fine then, you may pass." Tails motioned towards the back of the room. The back lights flickered to life and the rest of the room was visible. In the back lay a column. It was white, five foot column, with a tanish slash that ran across its front. At the top of this column, was a golden circle. A warp ring.

"The ring is your ticket out of here. Choose now. Put on the ring or leave."

"Tails… if this is a trick…" Sonic said as he slowly walked around Tails, never keeping his eyes off him.

Sonics thoughts were racing.

"I_ have to use the warp ring, but I can't just leave Tails. He needs help, and I don't know what I can do at this point. Think Sonic think, you're know for your speediness. So why can't I decide what to do? What is this place…what is it doing to me? I just need some help!"_

"Times up hero."

Tails snapped his fingers, and the floor started to dissolve. Faster then Sonic could realize or react to. And he started to plummet. Down, down, down he went. Everywhere the images blurred past him. Sonic frantically tried to grab on to the spiraling staircase but to no avail. He was hurtling to fast. Time felt slowly to Sonic as he raced down towards certain doom. With one last thought of survival, Sonic tried to curl himself into a small little ball. The floor got closer, and closer, and….

PING!

And then blackness…

* * *

Once again Sonic woke up. His body ached more now than ever, his energy was depleted, and he was unable to get up. Pricks of pain course throughout his furry body. He sat there, in agony, for what felt like ages.

"Sonic get up." Shout a familiar voice not too far off in the distance.

"Uhhh… Wh… I… Tail..?" Sonic managed to spit out.

"Sonic, what have you done. You didn't listen to my warning. Now please, you need to get up."

Sonic's eyes began to focus and he started to see a blurry figure come into focus.

"Silver, what… I need help. Please help." Sonic finally said coherently. Sonic was starting to crack. He had kept his cool, but Tails pushed him to his limit. He couldn't calm himself.

He realized he was back to where he had begun, by the old dying tree.

"Sonic, if you had just listened and not gone here, none of this would have happened. This is all your fault."

"Silver, if you would just tell me how to get out." Sonic said, taking back the faintest amount of courage in his tone.

"Sonic, I don't know, I just don't know. I'm really trying, but I suspect I don't have much time left before…"

"… You try and deceive Sonic again." Shouted Knuckles emerging from a cloud of black smoke.

"Knuckles, what are you…" Sonic began to question, but Knuckles interrupted as he said:

"Sonic don't believe that faker. There is a way out, get to the top. Use the warp ring."

"But Tails… how can I save Tails…"

"You can't…" Knuckles interrupted again "just forget about him."

Then Silver joined back in again.

"How can you call me a phony when you don't want to save Tails?" Does Sonic want to know what you did…"

"How dare you try and bring this up. Sonic is troubled enough without you confusing him. I know what you want. "

"Yes," Silver temper started to flair, "I want to help free Sonic and Tails from this place. I need time to think. It is you who is confusing Knuckles…"

"Enough of this, I'll take you myself you filthy little rodent."

And with that Knuckles took his first punch into Silver. It pressed into his gut hard and then shot Silver back. Silver grimaced, then got back to his feet. He then took a step towards Knuckles and his body began to have a greenish glow. He shot a concentrated stare at Knuckles, and preceded to lift up the old dying tree using his psychokinesis powers. He flung it at Knuckles and it smash into him. Knuckles managed to rise up again, angrier now more then ever. More blows where exchanged, the fighting escaladed, all while Sonic stood there in shock.

"Knuckles… Silver… me… THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Both Silver and Knuckles halted their fighting and turned towards sonic, staring at him for his outburst.

"I've had enough. Just tell me how to get out. I can't take much more. Why do you keep leaving? Why is everything so gosh darn mysterious? I want answers!" Sonic breathed in heavily as he finished his shout.

"I…." Silver started to say, but he suddenly began to tremble. "Oh no, no no nooooo." Silver wailed as he quickly threw to the ground another warp ring. The portal open, sucked him in, and he vanished.

"Sonic," Knuckles said turning his attention back towards Sonic, "listen to me know. I know your confused and lost, but I can't tell you where you are. You aren't ready. Please try and understand that you need to leave quickly. More horrors will be unleashed unless you get out. But mark my words Tails will be your downfall. Whatever you do, DON'T TRUST HIM. Chaos Control."

Sonic sat down onto the ground, trying to take in everything.

"_Now what?"_

End of Chapter 4

* * *

Thanks for reading. Reviewing is greatly appreciated, so I know how I'm doing.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails or any other Sega Character. All characters are property of Sega ****or Archie Comics.**


	5. Discovery

Chapter 5: Discovery

After some thought, Sonic made the decision of not returning to the mansion right away. He realized he just couldn't face Tails yet, so he decided to have another look around the island. As he started running on the path that led to the mansion, he decided to veer left and see what lay ahead. He recognized one of the green tinted pools, and stopped. He peered over and looked into it. As soon as Sonic's attention was at the greenish pool, the current suddenly stopped. No movement or motion or noise. Dead silence. Sonic's curiosity took the better of him, and he decided to try and dip his hand into the pool. As his hand was about to make contact with the water… a hand shot out from within the pool. The hand was old, slimy, covered with black oozing bumps. As Sonic struggled to free himself, more hands started to join in and drag Sonic by the hand. He started to see hundreds, maybe even thousands of these hands that stretch across the entire length of the pool, and instantly Sonic regretted his decision. He fought and struggled, but it was no use, their combined strength was no match for his own. With a last ditch decision, Sonic finally managed to break free with a spin dash, and then by running across the pool by jumping on top of each hand. As Sonic reached the end of the pool, he looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren't following him. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention in front, and when he finally looked forward, he realized he was an inch away from the edge of the cliff.

"Whoaa." Sonic called out. "That was a little too close for comfort."

Sonic started up again, walking along the edge of the island. After walking quite some time, he tripped on a small little object. Sonic got up, turned around and looked at the object, shocked. Before him was the blue ring Tails had offered him. He looked at it, and as he peered down, close enough to see the shining green Silvr, it whispered "join us." As he quickly started to back up, Sonic bumped into another object. Turning around, he saw the same ring. Then it cried out a little louder, "Save Tails." Sonic started run faster now, but he couldn't help but notice that more and more rings where popping up. Their voices grew louder and more terrifying.

"Join us," "You murder," "you will pay for your treachery," "Don't trust the tree," "liberation, is one slip of the ring away," "You killed your friend."

And then they all shouted simultaneously "TAILS DEATH IS ON YOU!"

"AHHHH." Sonic shouted. "Leave me alone, I can't take any more of this." Looking around he was surrounded by the rings, as far as he could see. They started to move closer and closer then started to climb up Sonic's body. Sonic started to fall by the weight of hundreds of thousands of rings attacking him. He was being suffocated under the rings. He couldn't get any air; he started to fade to blackness.

* * *

"…more of this." Sonic said, then realizing there were no more rings on him. Then he turned around to see where he was. He was back inside the mansion, like he had never left.

"What…. the…" Sonic starred around. This time the mansion was a little bit different. Instead of three staircases there were four, the last and newest of the staircases seemed to have been shoved in with the rest of them and the room looked a little bit off balance at this point. Not wanting to see Tommy or Muttski again, Sonic sped off to the fourth staircase.

Inside that room he found a library. It was a room filled fifteen feet high full of books. The room went down for what seemed like several hundreds of feet. And in the middle of the room was a chair, where Sir Connery sat with the Sword of Light in his hands.

"Greeting hedgehog," Sir Connery said calmly

"Sir Connery, your dead. I'm sorry but I just don't believe you are really here."

"I'm most certainly am here. I am very disappointed in you hedgehog."

"Why, what did I do?"

"You failed us." Sir Connery's tone sounded more serious.

"What?"

"You failed me, you failed your friends and family, and most importantly, you failed the Republic of Acorn."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time for any more games. Either tell me how to leave this place or…"

"Leave this place?" Sir Connery started to laugh coldly. "You aren't ever leaving this place. You have brought this upon yourself and now you shall pay for your misdeeds."

"What misdeeds, what have I done?"

"You have doomed all the ones you hold close near and dear and have slain your allies. You are nothing!" Sir Connery shouted and got up from his chair. He pointed at Sonic in a menacing way, and then quickly as he rose, turned into ashes.

"Sir Connery, I… I never did anything to hurt anyone close to me. I'm sorry you felt that way."

As Sonic turned to leave, he heard a rumbling noise. From the ashes of Sir Connery, rose a creature. It was Sir Connery, only this time he had changed. His body was stiffer and colder. His eyes were a deep shade of red. He looked old, dead even, with his body crumbled and aged as the tree in the front of the island. He had, throughout his body, oozing black puss-like warts all over his body, just like the hands in the pool. His sword was now black as the night. In the center of his stomach, there was a bloody letter carved out, the letter B. This Sir Connery was nothing like Sonic had ever seen before.

"Sonic," the ghastly voice of the disfigured Sir Connery whispered. "You shall now pay for your injustices." He raised the sword and tried to slice Sonic. Sonic dodged the sword and ran out of the room.

As Sonic exited the room, Sonic smashed into Silver the hedgehog.

"Silver, you're here again?" Sonic questioned getting to his feet.

"No time for explanation, I'll hold him off, just look underneath the staircase."

Sonic nodded, not taking any time to think out his next plan, and jumped over the edge of the staircase.

As he landed by the side of the bottom of the staircase, Sonic noticed that there lay a door on the side of the staircase. He cautiously turned the handle and went in. Pitch darkness. There was nothing sonic could see. His fear levels rose as he quietly walked across the blackness that engulfed the room. Moving along the smooth surface of the walls, Sonic managed to finally find a light switch. He turned it on and then saw the room. It was covered in mirrors. There were six mirrors, each one covering the entire side of the wall. The door was gone; Sonic was completely surrounded by his reflection. Looking around, he saw himself infinitely as each wall reflected against the other. Then he noticed that one of the mirrors wasn't following him. When he took a closer look, he heard a cough from behind him. He spun around to see himself again, only it wasn't a reflection, it was another Sonic outside the mirror starring right at him. Sonic rubbed his eyes and when he opened them, the reflection was back inside the mirror.

"Your loosing it hog." Sonic said to himself. "Now there must be a door somewhere. There is always a way out."

"Are you sure?" Said a crackling voice to his side.

Sonic quickly jerked his body to his right, where he saw his own reflection, but smiling. Then the smile grew bigger and bigger, his blue fur turned into yellow. And the familiar shape of Tails took form.

"Hello again, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Tails… you just… need to fight it. Whatever is controlling you I know that you're still there, deep down." Sonic gulped, then looked with a passionate expression "Don't worry, l will save you, not worry."

"I need no saving, but soon you will." There was no trace of sympathy in Tails voice. "You failed to figure out all the clues I left for you. Now you must face the guardians."

And then each mirror started to change. The second mirror showed the sky blue stone necklace Tails had worn, the third showed the ring that Tails offered Sonic, with the green Silvr inscribed on it, the fourth mirror showed the door at the front of the mansion, the fifth one showed Sir Connery and his bloody stomach and finally, the six and last mirror that was left of Tails, showed the dying tree.

"Goodbye." Tails said plainly as he moved his hands ever so slightly in a waving type of motion.

"Tails… wait… NOOOO!" Sonic tried to cry out as the wooden floorboard gave out and Sonic plummet into the darkness.

To be Continued…

* * *

Thanks for reading. Reviewing is greatly appreciated, so I know how I'm doing.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails or any other Sega Character. All characters are property of Sega ****or Archie Comics.**


	6. Victory for a smile, Ice Cold Plunge

Chapter 6: Victory for a smile (Ice Cold Plunge)

SPLASH!

Was the noise that Sonic made as he hit a large pool, tinted with the same green color as outside the mansion.

He sank quickly, straight to the bottom of the pool. Sonic frantically tried to get to the top but with no luck. He couldn't rise to the surface, the water was more dense and thick then usual. As Sonic struggled and pulled with all of his strenght he started to lose air. His lungs began to sting with pain as his body cried for oxygen. Panic started to settle in. There was nothing Sonic could do. Finally, his lungs gave out, and Sonic gave in a huge gulp of water.

Nothing happened, or more correctly, Sonic could breath under the water.

"_Now this is freaky." _Sonic thought to himself.

He decided to do some exploring and look around the pool. He started to walk around for several minutes, and then realized that this was not a pool at all, but entire bottom half of the island.

"_How is this island still floating?" _ Sonic said, questioning the existence of his location.

"We've been waiting for you." Came a chilled, croaky voice.

"What… Whose, there. Are you the guardians?" Sonic started to look all around him, but saw nothing but tinted water.

"You failed to escape while you still had the chance, now you shall stay here forever! Doomed to rot with the rest of us."

"Show yourself!" Sonic screamed out.

"Haven't you figured out what this place is, yet? Don't you realize where you are?" There was a mocking tone to the stranger's voice

"I don't know, I just don't kn…." Sonic grabbed his head in confusion.

"All the things you have seen, all the people you have met. Tommy, Muttski, Sir Connery, Us. All people from your past who have been lost. All those you have wronged. The ones you left behind."

"I don't understand you. I didn't leave anyone behind. All I want to do is help others. Please understand, I never wanted to hurt anyone." Sonic pleaded with the voice.

"This is the land of the forgotten, the place where the tortured souls of those who passed away, of those forgotten will stay for all eternity. Now you will be chained to this island as we are."

"Who are you? No more mysteries, no more secrets. I'm not going to take any more tricks." Sonic said with a fierce look, as he finally noticed a pair of glowing red eyes.

And then a creature walked into the light and Sonic saw what it was. In front of him was a small creature. It had pasty green skin, and wore a dark purple hat. It shoes were brown and pointy, its shirt ripped and tattered. It looked old and almost decomposing as its skin was peeling off, moldy, and covered in black oozing bumps. Its eyes were a fiery red under a pair of cooked, broken glasses. But there was no mistaking this deathly creature.

"Don't you recognize us Sonic?" The creature had a twisted smile on its face.

"No… who…" Sonic began to say then, stopped as the smile suddenly turned into a frown, and then a contorted shot of anger.

"Think back Sonic, to when you were young, when you had no care. You came to are aid once, we honored you, but when it mattered most, you betrayed us. Robotnik came back and wiped out our entire people, and you did nothing to help."

"I'd never do something like that, what underground village. I don't know who you ar…"

And then it hit him. Tails necklace with the N, the ring of Silvr missing the E, the S-1 door, one letter less then S being a R, the bloody B on Sir Connery, and the S on the old, dying tree.

"The Nerbs? I haven't seen you guys since I was a little kid. Wha… What happened all that time?

"He cut off our air vents, tainted the water, and destroyed our underground village. We fought all we could but it was no enough. We all died suffering with knowledge that the hero we had trusted betrayed us."

"No… I never… I couldn't have know…. I." Sonic started to stutter, as a wave of uncontrollable guilt clouded his thoughts. A voice in Sonic's head started to bombard him with venomous thoughts.

"_You betrayed them." "You're no hero" "You killed innocent lives" "you are nothing, and you never will be" "Blood is on your hands, it won't come off." _

Sonic struggled with these thoughts. "_What's happening, I can't think straight, I would… Why do I feel so much_….PAIN!" Sonic screamed out loud, he blindly start to charge the Nerb. The Nerb put out his hand, and suddenly, an invisible force made Sonic's movements came to a halt.

Then Sonic felt a wave of physical pain, prickling all around, his entire body seized with pain as Sonic energy left him. He tried to remain upright, but with no energy, he fell to the ground. He looked up to see that the Nerb was laughing in a deep, dark voice that got louder and louder. He was not alone. Behind him, hundreds upon thousands of red blazing eyes starred back at Sonic as he realized he was dealing with an army of Nerbs. They surrounded Sonic and their voices got colder and more shrill as the close up around Sonic. Sonic was fading fast. Just as he was about to give in to the darkness that he felt coming around him, he saw light coming from above him. It was a shiny, yellow hand extended in front of Sonic. "Tai-l-s?" Sonic mumbled out. As his eyes started to close, he reached out to the seemingly glowing hand and grabbed hold. He felt his body moving upwards, and the screaming voices moving away from him. And then Sonic gave into the darkness, and passed out.

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For those of you who have no idea who the Nerbs are, go buy Sonic the hedgehog #10 or Sonic Archives #3. For those of you who do know what I'm talking about, you probably notices that they have changed just a wee bit.

Thanks for reading. Reviewing is greatly appreciated, so I know how I'm doing.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails or any other Sega Character. All characters are property of Sega ****or Archie Comics.**


	7. So you think you knew?

Chapter 7: So you think you knew?

"Sonic…. Sonic….. SONIC!" Screamed a voice unknown to Sonic, who lay on the groud unconscious. Ever so slowly, Sonic began to stir. He looked up and expected to see Tails, but instead realized it was Knuckles standing in front of him.

"You had me worried there for a moment true blue." Knuckles chuckled to himself, taking in a nice breath of air and exhaling, as if a weight had been lifted.

"Knux…" Sonic began to mutter "Tails…" was all he could manage to garble out as his body still ached with pain.

"When the time comes, you will have to do what needs to be done with Tails." Knuckles said, suddenly switching into a darker tone.

"What are you saying…" Sonic breathed out as he struggled to his feet.

"Forget that for a moment, just worrying about getting to the top of the mansion."

At the moment, Sonic was at the edge of the island on the opposite side of the mansion.

"Why, what's so important? Do you want me to just fall back down again. Is that your idea of a sick joke?" Said Sonic in a snappy voice.

"Easy there, I on your side, remember? You have to get out of here quickly."

"What about you? You seem to maneuver around this island very easily." Sonic shot back.

"That's because I'm not really here." Knuckles calmly replied.

"What? What is that supposed to mean? No more charades."

"I can't explain it to you. If I reveal my methods, I won't be able to contact you anymore. You have to trust me."

"Well, you did save me." Sonic thought. "But that doesn't mean you have some ulterior motive." He said angrily.

"His ulterior motive," Called out Silver as he emerged from the middle of nowhere, "is that he wants you dead."

"You little weasel." Knuckles sneered out at him "Sonic smart enough to realize that you have done nothing but sabotage him."

"Sonic, ignore this phony, if you ask me, he sure is acting like the traitor right now."

"And what about Tails, Silver? Weren't you trying to convince Sonic he was the traitor?"

"Hey wait," Sonic said as he came to an epiphany "Weren't you the one who lead me right to Tails and those Nerbs?"

"Sonic, don't let Knuckles deceive you, he was the one who lead you here in the first place. Beside I was only trying to protect you from Sir Connery."

Knuckles snapped back, "Right, but that was because you wanted him to rot in that supposed Great Forest for all of time."

"But Silver, what is it exactly that you propose for me to do anyway?" Sonic patience for this conversation was wearing down. He didn't know who to trust, but he knew it had to end right here, right now.

"I…. think… well, I'm not sure yet." Silver shuddered as he was a lost for an answer. "But at least I'm not as suicidal as Knuckles is here. We shouldn't be so rash in…"

"We, We?" Sonic cried out, beside himself. "You two haven't been doing anything. You," Sonic said pointing at Knuckles "have just lead me aimlessly around, and you," Sonic turned towards Silver "haven't done anything either except warn me about potential traitors. If you ask me, you're both traitors."

"Sonic just relax yourself. This is just what he wants."

"What who wants? I'm surrounded by incompetence. Oh, and Knuckles," Sonic shouted out in an angered, sarcastic tone, "Let me guess, the super secret power you're using to contact me is the master emerald."

As Sonic said that, he didn't even glace at Knuckles to see his reaction. Had he looked, he would have notice the horrified look on Knuckles now pale face.

"You are a fool," Silver calmly shouted out. "Now that I know where Knuckles power is coming from, I can remove him from the equation."

"Sonic you fool." Knuckles shouted echoing Silver, as he started to dissolve. "Get the top, just get to the topppp." Was all Knuckles could yell out as he vanished completely.

"Silver, you're, you're…."

"That's right, quickster…" And then silver started to change shaped. The empty shell of Silver was stripped away to reveal the evil wizard know as Ixis Naugus hiding beneath.

"You never really did understand what this place is, did you?"

"Naugus, you dirty trickster, what did you do with Knuckles?"

Naugus showed a nice grin as he proclaimed: "I don't think that Knuckles is going to be a problem anymore."

Just then Ixis raised his hands and the entire island began to shake. Behind Naugus, forming over the edge of the floating island, a huge title storm of water grew until it was 50 feet above them. Then he crashed his hands down, and the water fell. It was everywhere. It swept past Naugus and went across the entire island with a fierce passion that rocked the island to its core. Meanwhile, Sonic raced desperately across the island, trying to surpass the wave's mighty blow. As he reached the mansion, he ran through the front entrance and slammed the door. It was not a moment too soon, for a second later he, heard a loud thud that hit the entire front of the mansion.

Sonic blew out a sign of relief, but it was short lived. All of a sudden, Sonic heard a Shattering noise. Then another, and another, until 50 shatters where heard. Then it him, "_the windows." _And sure enough, a moment later, water started to trickle down all the staircases. Then the trickle turned into a slow flow, until the water was quickly rising above the floor that Sonic stood on.

"Okay, maybe Knuckles was right about getting to the top now."

Sonic sped up left staircase, but halfway up, he slipped on the water flooding steps, and fell back down. His only way to get up was to grab onto the side rail. As he started up once more, he saw below him the entire first floor flooded with water. But this water was clear, not a trace on green to be found. "_I don't think I can breath in this." _He turned back and saw the narrow hallow that led to the staircase was almost completely filled with water. He took once last giant breath of air, and then plunged head first into the water. He ran as quickly as he could through the hallway and up to the stair case. As he raced up and up and up, his oxygen level was leaving him.

"_A few more, just a few more…"_

And as he reached the last of his breath, he broke free of the water and walked into the top chamber.

Something had changed.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Reviewing is greatly appreciated, so I know how I'm doing. So Please Review!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails or any other Sega Character. All characters are property of Sega or Archie Comics.**


	8. Kill, cut, spill

Chapter 8: Kill, Cut, Spill

The first thing Sonic noticed was that the room had expanded incredibly. The room stretched out as far as Sonic could see. No windows or exits were to be found in this room. The white column with the golden ring had also vanished. Sonic definitely didn't want to go back down to the flooded mansion, and so, he had nowhere to go. Tails was nowhere to be found. It was quiet and empty.

Sonic slowly started walking across the room and couldn't help but think, "_I'm walking along an attic floor of a flooded mansion, full of dead friends, that rests on the edge of an island that floats on darkness, that I arrived on via an old dead tree. If this isn't strange, I don't know what is_." The thought almost seemed comical, laughable to him. But Sonic knew that this situation was far from funny.

"Creeaaak," croaked the floorboard under Sonic's feet. Sonic instantly looked under his feet, waiting for the floor to give way. It did not, but instead, the wood started to shift around, until the pattern almost looked likes Naugus smiling face.

Then the lights dimmed.

A green glow started to shine off in the distant. Sonic started to walk towards it. As he got faster and faster, the walls started to shift closer together, until Sonics pathway was incredibly narrow. Then he started to feel a sharp pain in his back. He turned around just in time to avoid ten sharp rocks hurtling towards him.

"_Naugus and his elemental power." _Sonic cursed to himself.

No sooner had he said that he the room behind him light up. A huge ball of fire was hurtling towards him. Sonic sped to out run the fire in the narrow, glowing passage way. Then, he saw the outline of another room. He sprang forward with all of his might, and flew straight into the mysterious black room. He felt the outlines of a door, and slammed it shut, just a few moments before the fire hit the door. The room trembled for a moment, and then it settled back down.

In the pitch black, Sonic stumbled around aimlessly. He constantly bumped against the walls, suddenly realizing how small this antechamber really was. His fear started to rise. He swallowed hard and tried to call down, but the images of Ixis, Tommy, Muskii, Nerbs, and Connery swirled around in his head. He started having awful visions, as their images closed in, in his mind.

"Get out of my head." Sonic shouted out loud in the pitch black.

And then a shrill voice started to bombard Sonic's mind. It started as a whisper as it chanted:

_Kill the Fox_

_Cut his throat,_

_Spill his blood!_

Louder and louder the voice became:

_KILL THE FOX_

_CUT HIS THROAT,_

_SPILL HIS BLOOD!_

It screamed until it was almost unbearable:

**_KILL THE FOX_**

**_CUT HIS THROAT,_**

**_SPILL HIS BLOOD!_**

The images of all his fallen friends swirling around, charging at him; he was surrounded. They attacked, punched, kicked and torn all around. Everywhere red, drenched with blood. Everywhere pain. The darkness crept in, as Sonic's world spun around. There was nowhere to go, it all was…..

"AHHHHHHHH!" Screamed Sonic at the top of his lungs as he lunged forward with all his might, stabbing blindly in front of him. He madly spun, and kicked around, tearing everything in his way, never stopping to think. He had lost it. As he spurred around and used all his energy at one last blow, he smash into a solid object and collapsed to the floor.

The lights flickered on, and lying in front of Sonic was a blood soaked Tails.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Reviewing is greatly appreciated, so I know how I'm doing. Even just a simple thumbs up or down is great!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails or any other Sega Character. All characters are property of Sega or Archie Comics.**

To be continued in Chapter 9: Blood of the dead


	9. Blood of the Dead

Chapter 9: Blood of the Dead

A twich. A single, uncontrolled twich. The twich was located in the eye of Sonic. Then his other eye, then his hands, legs, and soon his full body began to seize up. He started to shake all over; he closed his eyes as hard as they would go, paused, and then opened them.

Tails lifeless body was still in front of him.

"No…. n…. n… n" Sonic squeezed out, his entire world crashing around him. His dark thoughts had become reality.

"_It's not possible, it's fake. I didn't…. I…. No, he… it wasn't… Oh please, no, no _NOOOOOOOOO!"  
Sonic mouthed out.

"_I can't... his eyes, oh god his eyes."_

Starring right back at Sonic were the wide open lifeless eyes of Tails. Tail's eyes were open with pupils starring right at Sonic, yet hollow and removed; like the distant stare of a dreamer, there yet far away.

Sonic suddenly found himself grabbing Tails body and shaking it.

"Tails, buddy, come on. Pull through. Pull throu…."

"_He's gone."_

"No, I can fix this_."_

"_Leave him."_

"I always have a plan, there's always another way."

"_You can't always win."_

"But he's Tails, it just doesn't fit. This can't be real. This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Please…" Sonic said, as tears trickled harder and faster down his cheek "I need help. Please, someone… Tails…"

Silence. The continued silence; so very long and harsh a time. Sonic sat alone, knelt beside his fallen friend. The pain cut worse than any blow Sonic could have been dealt. It was mind crushing.

He sat there, and in his mind darkness had become all consuming. Sonic was crushed.

Hours slipped away, days, months, and possibly years? Sonic couldn't measure the time, not that he cared. It was all the same until…

"he…. He … he he he he he MUHAHAHAHAH!" Broke the timeless silence. It shattered the calm, and unlocked a fury within Sonic he didn't know he had.

"NAUGUS, I'LL KILL YOU!" Shouted Sonic as he turned to a corner and started to pound on the wall. Sonic was currently in a tinny, secluded room. Had he stopped to think, he would have realized that the only thing protecting himself from the water that by now must have spread throughout the top of the mansion, was the thin layered wall in the front of the room, but that didn't matter. He wanted to break down that wall and straggle Naugus with his bare hands.

Sonic had never felt like this before, never felt this type of adrenilan, this anger that fueled his very being, the furious venjuince he wanted to give to the twisted wizard.

"POW!" Went the wall as it shot across the cooridoor. Meraculisly, the water was completely gone and the room was still completely dry. There was not even any marks indicating that a giant ball of fire had passed through. Sonic didn't he even noticed this, nor would he have cared, as he sped back in the direction of Naugus.

"Locked. AHHHHH!" Screamed Sonic as the door to the lower floors was sealed tight.

"Naugus you coward show your self now or I'll grate your fingers down to shrubs…."

"No need to yell, quickster. I'm right behind you."

"Naugus, Tails was innocent, you, you… You're going to pay."

"What are talking about?" Sneered Naugus. "you are the one who attacked him, you are the one who killed him, you are no better then me."

Sonic clenched his head. "Lies, it's all lies, I didn't…. You made… I couldn't have." Sonic anger started to fade as sadness overwhelmed him once more.

Then Sonic collapsed. Not out physical weakness but out of defeat. He lost.

"Ha ha ha. How the mighty have fallen. And to think you thought yourself noble. I change my mind, your not as bad as me, you're something worse. Your nothing." Naugus laughed wickedly at his own observation, amused by Sonic's acceptance of defeat.

"And now, with the shame and burden that you hold, I shall kill you. Your pain will finally be at an end." Nagus brought up his lobster like claw, poised to kill Sonic. Sonic made no attempt to move, to run.

He knew he was finished. He close his eyes waiting for the end. But the moment seemingly passed; after an endless amount of time, Sonic finally opened his eyes. He saw Naugus, still in his position to kill. But his face had change from a cruel grin, to a grimace of horror. Naugus still stood for a moment longer, then suddenly collapse to the ground, and was motionless.

Sonic's eyes bulged opened; someone else was there.

* * *

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	10. The coldest smile seen, last…

Chapter 10: The coldest smile seen, last…

It was a mere shadow that was in Sonic's fuzzy vision. Nothing more then a sliver of a creature could be seen.

"Who… who did this? Knuckles?" Sonic gasped out, with little enthusiasm in his voice. Then the shadow froze, turned around, and ran away from Sonic.

"Wait, come back" Sonic cried out. He slowly got to his feet and raced back across the hall. As he neared the dark chamber to which he had previously emerged, he slowed down in remembrance of Tails. It was that hesitation that saved Sonic's life, for as he slowed down, he realized the small chamber that was previously there was gone, and instead a hole. He peered out an realized that he was at the edge of the 10 story mansion, and that was one fall Sonic would not have been able to endure.

"Oh my…" Sonic began to say as he suddenly felt a rumbling. Then he looked below him and saw that the floor was starting the shake. A long crack ran across the base of the floor, and at that point Sonic realized that the mansion was collapsing. With lighting quick speed, Sonic race back past the motionless Naugus and to the previously locked door. He found it to be already open, and so he sprinted down the spiral cases through the hallway and down the left staircase. As he reached the front door, the lights suddenly dimmed and another shadow jumped out at him. Sonic turned his head to see who it was, and then ran smack into the door.

Sonic saw a crack were his head made, and then a new crack started to travel along the door and across the ceiling. Sonic heard the entire Mansion creak.

"_Now or never." _Sonic exclaimed as he curled into a ball, and used all his might to break down the door. It was not a moment too soon, for as he started to burst open the door, the entire building started to collapse. Sonic sprung out of the mansion, and fell onto the outside ground. A thick layer of dust swept the island, and Sonic was temporarily blinded.

Shadows swirled around Sonic as he tumbled around, moving away from the accursed mansion.

Then the dust settled and there was silence. Not a trace of the mansion was to be seen, it was all gone.

With the excitement over, Sonic once again grew deep with sadness, anger, and regret.

"_Why… how could I? What have I become? What has Naugus done to me? Or have I always had this way. It's all my fault. I should have never taken Tails with me to fight Eggman. He was…"_

"WHY… Oh god Tails, please no." Sonic screamed to the empty sky. There was no response. He felt his voice echo into the distant.

"_It all started… If feels like a lifetime ago. I'll never be the same. I can't go back. I'm sorry Tails, I'm sorry."_

Sonic once more fell to his feet. He looked around for guidance. He found none.

"Heh, if Eggman saw me now..." But it was a hollow joke. It couldn't bring Sonic the enjoyment it had in the past.

"Sonic, hey Sonic." Shouted a voice

"Wha… Who… Hello?" Sonic shouted out, surprised to hear another voice.

Then he saw it, the outline of a yellow fox, Tails, leaping towards him. Sonic stared in bewilderment, and then his face broke into a smile. He was overcome with emotions as he ran towards Tails.

"Sonic, you won't believe what happened to me."

"Tails, oh my… you're here. I thought…" Sonic swallowed. "But it doesn't matter because you're here."

"Sonic, Sonic I'm so glad to see you. I mean, especially since I'm dead."

"I know Tails, I'm…" Sonic started to say and then stopped. The air stood still. "What did you say buddy?"

"You killed me." Tails said with a playful tone and a normal smile.

"No, Tails…. I… you're here. I…"

"You killed me." He repeated, still smiling like he was having a normal conversation with his good friend.

"Tails please listen…" Sonic began as he put his hand on Tails. Sonic's hand swept right through Tails, and he fell. Sonic looked up, and Tails was gone. But in the distance he saw a motionless figure besides the dead tree. Sonic race up to the creature, and choked up as he saw the dead body of Tails.

"But Tails, you were fi…. I talked to yo… not again." Sonic turned away. "Stop tourturing me. I'll never get over this, I'll never forgive…"

"Sonic." Rang Tails voice.

"It's not really you, I'm not gonna look."

"Sonic."

"Just… rest in peace. I beg you, no more."

"Sonic."

"Tails," Sonic slowly turned around.

Tails stilled lay there motionless, his eyes shut.

"Sonic!" screamed the voice, now loud and low pitched.

"Who...?" Sonic turned around, looking out as far as the island reached. Then he looked down, and saw it. It was another Nerb.

* * *

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	11. A traitor of the traitor is the friend

Chapter 11: A traitor of the traitor is the friend

"Sonic I'm here to help." Squeaked the voice of a smaller Nerb.

"Right, like everything else on this island." Sonic said, angered. "If you want to attack me, then go ahead and do it already, don't pretend to be on my side."

"Listen, Sonic, I know that you're confused right now, but I'm really here to help."

"Right," Sonic chuckled hollowly.

"Please listen, I have to share with you some secrets. You know where you are, but you're deceived."

Sonic peered down closer and examined the creature in-depth. Its greenish, aging skin along with its peeling, rotting outer layer and black oozing warts, not to mention the crooked glasses, made this creature indisputably a Nerb.

"Fine, what do you have."

"You're in… the special zone."

"What?" Sonic questioned looking around him. Beside the island, darkness surrounded him. There was nothing else.

"But…."

"After Naugus got all the chaos emeralds, he…" The Nerb began to say, but Sonic cut him off.

"The chaos emeralds? When did Naugus aquire all the chaos emeralds? And how did…."

"Look I've said enough. But one last thing."

"And what's that?"

"Naugus is not your biggest concern."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll be helping you from afar, even if you don't realize it."

"Wait, you need to hol…." But the Nerb had already vanished into thin air, leaving Sonic more confused then ever.

He stood there for a moment, and then sat down.

"_What to I do next? And what do I do about you?" _Sonic glanced back at the lifeless shell that was formerly Tails.

"_I'm such a fool, how could I play right into Naugus hand? And who killed Naugus? Or is he dead?" _ One more glance at Tails. "_It's…it's sti…still my fault that he's de…." _ Sonic just couldn't bare to say the word.

Then a thunderous noise, the stomping of feet against the desolate earth of the island. Out in the distance, Sonic could see the blurry outline of a greenish blob. The Nerbs were coming.

Sonic looked back for a path to escape from. He was near the edge of the floating island, there was nowhere to run.

As the sea of green crept closer and closer to Sonic, he frantically looked for a way out, but he couldn't find anywhere to go to.

"Join us, join us. You know you can't resist." The wave of Nerbs started to chant.

"Yeah right," Sonic shouted out. He quickly scanned the area once more looking for a way out, an escape route. He could find nothing to work with.

"_Better bluff them." _

"Hey Nerbs, I wouldn't get any closer if I were you."

The Nerbs advanced.

"You guys better watch out… um… you might get your calculators dirty?"

The Nerbs advanced further.

"_Wow Sonic, that was lame. These aren't the same Nerbs that you dealt with as a child. They are mature, dead, rotting Nerbs."_

The army of Nerbs came to a halt, as the closest one was not more than a couple feet away from the dying tree and Sonic.

"Wait that's it, I'll go back through the tree!" Sonic cried out loud. He took one more glance at the Nerbs, and then sprinted towards the decrepit tree. He jumped up, trying to touch the tree in midair. As his hand made contact with the tree, so did the rest of Sonic. He smashed his head directly into the tree and fell down. The tree did not waiver.

"Auuugh… Well that didn't work."

"_Sonic, do you surrender?" _Came the combined, chilling voices of the Nerbs in unison.

"No." Sonic said definitely. "Whether or not you are more powerful, you still can't control me. I'll never join."

"_An interesting choice of words." _One Nerb stepped forwards and shot his hand forward. Then, slightly above him, a small ball of fire started to emerge. The rest of the Nerbs followed in his footsteps as each of the thousands of Nerbs started to create mini balls of fire. The sea of green was now a sea of yellow and red.

"Oh no, you have Naugus' elemental powers." Sonic started to sweat.

"_Ha, like Naugus would ever want to teach us such tricks. He always suspected that we would grow too powerful. He never was in charge, nor did he ever realize who he was dealing with."_

Sonic gasped. "So it was you Nerbs who took down Naugus."

"_Of course not, we are not the most powerful being."_

"Then who is?"

"_Wouldn't you like to know. Now I ask you one last time. If you want to live, put this on."_

Starring at Sonic, was the Silvr ring. It was gently placed out along the fingertips of the green skinned Nerb. He stood there, expressionless. A slight breeze came over the island; the calm before the storm. Sonic starred into the eyes of the Nerb, then glanced down once more at the ring. As he started to reach for it, a faint smile came over the Nerb. Then, at the last instant possible, Sonic shifted his hands from an outstretch position, and knocked the ring out of the Nerbs hand. It rolled alongside the barren island, and then fell over the edge.

"_You shouldn't have done that, Sonic. You will pay dearly. Prepare to die."_

Simultaneously, the Nerbs began to stretch out their hands. But this time, instead of creating balls of fire, they made balls of water. Then the water started to harden and take a new form. They became pointed ice crystals, sharp enough to kill most creatures with one good strike. Then the crystals began to rise. They stood in the air still for a moment. Sonic slowly started to walk back, when he felt his back foot slightly falling. Sonic was walking off the edge of the island. As he started to lose balance, the deadly quills shot forwards and started to raced towards him. With one last push, Sonic shot himself off the edge of the island. As he started to fall, he felt the quills breeze against the edge of his face. Then darkness slipped around him. He wasn't unconscious, but felt the sensation of falling for several minutes in the pitch blackness.

Finally, after what felt like hours, he smashed into a solid ground. As he got up, he looked at himself in amazement as nothing had been damaged on impact. He glanced around his standing as starred in disbelief. He was back in the Great Forest.

"So, now what?"

"_I can't stay here forever, I'm not going to rot like Silver wanted me to. Better find that dying tree and reassess then."_

Sonic sped through the forest. As he raced past the trees, he kept noticing that the trees seemed to be different. They weren't in perfect rows and identical, the trees were scattered in no specific patter. It looked more like the actual Great Forest then previously. Sonic scanned and scanned for the dying old tree, he just couldn't seem to find it anywhere. He raced around aimlessly for a while, then stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him, not too far in the distance, appeared to be an opening.

"_Wonder what trap lies ahead there." _Sonic thought suspiciously. He pondered whether to purse the large gap of trees, but with no other options, he decided to race ahead into the clearance. As he broke free of clustering tree and out into the open grass, the sun showed right into Sonic's eyes. After adjusting for a minute, Sonic looked out and his mouth hung wide open. Not too far off was the familiar dome that was New Mobotropolis.

"I'm back." Exclaimed Sonic. He ambled through the grassland that led to the castle, and finally reached the gate. The hologram of Nicole projected in front of him.

"Greetings trav…. Sonic?" Nicole gasped, just realizing who had arrived at her doorstep.

"Hey Nicole, why the face." Sonic said as Nicole looked at him funny.

"It's just that… well… well it's great to have you back. We were worried, you..."

"What are you talking about, I was gone a couple of days tops."

"Ummmmm…." Nicole broke eye contact with Sonic.

"What is Nicole?" Sonic's voice quickened.

"Nothing… um, anyway, is Tails with you?"

Sonic looked back at her, and then looked down at the ground. He tightened his finch and squeezed his eyes shut. Then he calmed his body down.

"He…he'll b-be here soon." Sonic stammered out.

"Okkay…" Nicole stammered, looking closer at Sonic's reaction. "I think that Sally will be happy to see you again. But first, I'm sure that the council would like to talk with you."

"Yeah, right." Sonic quietly muttered out.

The gate to New Mobotropolis opened up, and Sonic stepped inside to his familiar home. Everything was back to normal, the nanite filled city, the Mobian children playfully running about. Everything, except Tails.

"_I left him." _Was all Sonic could think about.

When he walked into the room in which the Council of Acorn was seated in, he heard the voices of the council members having a heated debate. However, as soon as he entered, they all suddenly stopped talking and stared patiently at Sonic, waiting for him to speak. Sonic couldn't think of anything to say, and it was Uncle Chuck who broke the silence.

"Sonic my boy, you're here!" Uncle Chuck got up from his seat, raced towards Sonic and gave him a tight hug.

"Unc', what is happening.? Why is everyone acting this way?"

The council members looked at one another with nervous glances. "Well, it's just that…." Spoke Rotor, starring at Sonic with sheer amazement.

"What? Has old egg dead been hatching a new plan?"

"Well it has been several months and…"

"And what?" Questioned Sonic.

"We buried you."

"Come again," asked Sonic, perplexed.

"We thought you were dead."

"Umm, last time I checked I'm standing right here. What do you mean?l"

"That last mission that you and Tails went on… Well, Eggman defeated you. And then you guys died. I mean, we tried all we could, but the radiation…"

"What in Mobius are you talking about?" Interrupted the angered and confused Sonic.

"You were exposed too much radiation from Robotropolis, and well… you and Tails passed away."

"But that's impossible." Stated Sonic, stamping his foot, "I beat Eggman, and then wandered into the Great Forest, where all the trouble began…"

"What trouble… how, are you here?"

"Look," Sonic cleared his throat "I'm as confused as you guys are but unless I'm crazy, we are… we…"

"What?" Rotor called out.

"Tails is dead." Sonic said, the words crushed him.

Rosemary Prower looked away, as Sonic had stirred up some emotions within her. She had just come to terms with Tails death, but Sonic's comments tore into her.

"We all know Tails is dead." Hamlin said very bluntly "how about instead of stating the obvious, you tell us something of actual use, like how you are standing here today."

"Why you little good for nothing…" Sonic began to shout out, but Rotor shook his head and pointed to Rosemary. Sonic understood; he shouldn't stir up more unnecessary emotions and make things tenser then already it was.

So, Sonic began to weave the story of how he got to the castle. He said everything; from the invasion of Nerbs, to Knuckles chaos control power, to Tails possession. All the while the council sat there, intrigued by his haunted tale surrounded by mystery.

"…and so I fell until I landed in the Great Forest, only this time it was the real one. I found my way back to New Mobotropolis, and here I am."

"But then questions still remain," Uncle Chuck said "…like who is the blue hedgehog in your grave?"

* * *

Thanks for reading. If you read this fanfic, a simple thumbs up or down on how I am doing is great. Reviewing is greatly appreciated, so I know how I'm doing.


	12. Reunion, and a few dead friends

Chapter 12: Reunion, and a few dead friends

"Were is it?" Asked Sonic the hedgehog. "Where is his… er my grave?"

"Well Sonic," Uncle Chuck replied, "it's on the edge of town, near the dinner."

"Alright," called out Rotor, a little bit weary, "I think this meeting is adjourned."

Minutes later, Sonic raced through the town, wondering what he would find at his grave. His thoughts changed however, as he smashed into Hamlin.

"Watch were you are going, you incompetent fool." He sneered at Sonic.

"What is your problem Hamlin. You thought I was dead, and this is how you treat me when I return. How dare you…"

"How dare I not be happy when everything will fall apart because of you. You didn't realize it, but after we thought you were gone, we were able to make a deal with Eggman. As long as you weren't around, we would keep the peace. Things were going great…. That is, until you arrived."

"A deal with Eggman? And he hasn't double crossed you yet. That just doesn't add up. You know he's not really your ally…"

"Well he won't be," shouted Hamlin, "now that you're still alive. You were more help as a hero when you were dead." And with that Hamlin turned around and stormed away.

"That arrogant little…" But he was gone, and Sonic didn't feel like he was worth pursuing.

"_Well, that's just one hogs opinion."_

But Sonic soon realized that it wasn't. As he ran along the street, he heard whispering, people talking about him behind his back.

"…now war will surly break out." "It's a shame he's back." "Great, finally peace and he shows up."

After a while, the comments finally got to Sonic, and he stormed up to a local Mobian.

"You want to say something to my face?"

"No, nothing Sonic." He replied defensively, "just happy you're back."

"Right." Sonic said sarcastically. Then, a thought occurred to him. "Where is Sally and the rest of the freedom fighters?"

"They went out a couple of hours ago. I think they were going to see if Eggman wanted to come live here. Personally I think he takes up too much space."

Sonic walked away, more confused than ever.

"_Eggman, an ally? People wishing I was dead? Man oh man, well at least I know two hedgehogs that still love me."_

Sonic temporarily forgot about his grave, and rushed home to find his parents. When he entered the house, he was greeted with a warm, loving welcome.

"Sonic, we missed you so much." Cried out Bernadette.

"Mom, I'm glad you're here to see me, it seems that everyone else would rather have me still dead."

"Oh dear…" She laughed.

"I guess maybe I was jumping to conclusions."

"Well," Bernadette said wiping her tears away.

"Well what?" Sonic's eyes widened a bit.

"Well dear, I love you so much, but… if you hadn't come back, everything would have been better."

"Better? What are you saying mom? I thought that you of all people wouldn't be… how…."

"I'm sorry dear, you just need to get over yourself." Bernadette had a small frown on her face. Her tears had completely stopped flowing.

"I…" Sonic began to say, then rushed out of his house.

"_Does everyone really think I'm better off dead? Sally doesn't think that. She couldn't... I really need to talk to her as soon as she gets back… I need... I need to see that grave."_

As Sonic arrived at the edge of town, he slowed down as reached the entrance to the cemetery.

His gait began to slow to a stroll. His feet were very quiet, barely making an imprint as he wandered deeper into the cemetery. Some familiar names were seen: Sir Connery, Tommy, even Muttski.

"_Muttski? When did you die." _ Sonic stepped closer towards the grave marker, and bend down. "_Things change so fast, I'm sorry I wasn't there_." Sonic put his hand along the tombstone, and gently brushed against the cold, icy bumps of the lettering. Finishing his thought, he rose slowly and continued his journey. The cemetery was not that large, it was only a couple hundred square feet length wise. The graves were all kept in rows of ten, each having several feet of spacing between them for the bodies. Each marker was shaped the exact same, except for two.

"Sonic and Tails, two brave heroes. Savoir of the world many times and true friends." Sonic read out loud the words inscribed on his tomb. The compliment gave Sonic the slightest bit of comfort, knowing someone still cared about him.

Sonic's grave was on the left side of the plaque, Tails' grave was on the right. The caskets were both above ground. They had a standard shade of black coating on the top and bottom, and along the edge ran a series of images that depicted Sonic and Tails in many of their adventures. Sonic decided to have a quick glance at his deceased buddy first. He slowly opened the casket as it made a creaking noise. He peered in, saw Tails, then immediately stepped back. He didn't know what he was going to expect, but it hadn't dawned on him that Tails body would be inside the casket. He quickly shut it closed and turned his head left.

"_If Tails is here then…"_

Sonic was worried about what he would find in his own casket. He gently placed his hand of the corner, and started to turn the hinge outward. With a quick inhale, Sonic peered into the casket…


	13. Real: Shadow from Afar

Chapter 13: Night: Real is to the eye of the beholder, or the shadow from afar

The casket was empty. Nothing could be found. Not a single trace of a body, nor any evidence to suggest anything had ever occupied this space. Sonic didn't know whether to be surprised or to be relived. He decided to exhale and breathe a little easier. That is, until he heard a rustling come from behind him. Sonic quickly spun around to see who it was. As far as he could tell, it was just the breeze making some noise. He strolled down the pathway, until he felt something tap against his shoulder. He jerked his head back, expecting to see some enemy, but instead, just rows of graves. His pace started increase his pace, as he felt the cemetery getting creepier by the minute. Although, the graveyard was only a few minutes walk in any direction, Sonic felt like the voyage off the grave grounds was taking too much time.

"Quit following me." Sonic randomly shouted, hoping to get some sort of reaction from someone.

Sonic just felt the cold breeze, and nothing else. As he finally got to the front gate, he almost seemed to notice a blurry figure out of the corner of his eye.

"_Maybe just another trick. I really need to clear my head."_

Sonic walked back to his house, to find it empty. As he entered the kitchen, a note was waiting for him at the edge of the counter. Sonic picked it up and read it.

"Dear Sonic, sorry to leave you like this, but I have to take care of some things. Be back soon. Love, Mom." Sonic read out loud. "Love mom? What the heck does this note mean? Be back soon? Why bother with the note, what is she getting at?"

Several hours later, Bernadette still was nowhere to be seen, and so Sonic went to bed. When he awoke the next morning, he walked down stairs to see his mom making him a nice, hot plate of pancakes. "Well good morning dear, I made you a delicious breakfast."

"So…. Mom, about last night."

"Oh, never you mind that dear. By the way, the freedom fighters have returned. I'm sure you'll be very happy to speak with Sally again."

"Um, yeah. But seriously the note that you se…"

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"As I was saying the not…"

The doorbell rang again, its ring sounding sharper.

"Well you better get that dear, I'm quite busy right now."

"Okay mom," Sonic said, casually walking to the door. As he opened it, a still figure was standing in the front door.

It was Tails. His body was covered in blood, gashes and cuts; he was completely mangled up. He starred right at Sonic with his lifeless eyes, and then collapsed onto Sonic's feet. Sonic stood there for a moment.

"AHHHHHHH!" Screamed Sonic, sitting straight up in his bed. Looking around, he realized it was a mere dream, but to Sonic it felt a little too real.

He looked outside his bedroom window, and realized that it was still nighttime. He breathed deeply several times to calm himself. Then, with a deep yawn he stared to walk downstairs for a midnight snack. He turned on the kitchen lights, and opened the refrigerator. Inside was bread, cheese, and a dead, severed Nerb head. Sonic stumbled backwards in terror, and then tripped on an object lying on the floor. It was another dead Nerb, stabbed to death in the stomach. Sonic's head turned up, as he saw a bloody, silver sword. Bernadette was holding it.

"Mom, what did you?"

"Oh, Sonic," she said very calmly and eloquently , "I was only helping you."

"But you… I mean he kill… thanks?" Sonic said with a disgusted look on his face.

"Sonic," Bernadette formed a wide smile. "Why are you so worried dear, you're safe now."

"Mom," Sonic said, a gruesome thought emerging. "What happened to that Nerbs' body?"

"That thing," she chucked cruelly. "I just put it in the food processor. Thought it might be a nice add in for a chili dog."

Sonic's stomach turned.

"Is this what you were busy doing?"

"Oh Sonic, you quick fool." She let out a laugh.

Sonic heart skipped a beat.

"What was that."

"I said, you are a quick fool."

"…Naugus?" Sonic squealed out.

"Naugus?" Bernadette laughed in a low masculine voice. "That idiot could have never pulled this all together. You really think he knew what he was doing? You are a naitve little hedgehog, and your ignorance shall cost you dearly."

With that, Bernadette charged the sword at Sonic. Sonic, not being able to process or react in time, couldn't get out of the way. He felt the metal tip drive deep into his chest. A moment later, the pain started to kick in.

"Sonic, now is the end. Sonic…."

"Augh." Sonic yelled out in pain.

"Sonic…"

He felt his stamina weakening, his very life fading from him. He went to his knees.

"Sonic, what are you doing on the floor."

Sonic, opened his eyes, realizing that the sword that had been lodged deep in his stomach was gone. His cut was gone. His energy was back, and he was sitting on the floor of his bedroom.

"Are you alright?" Asked Bernadette, was a caring look in her face.

"Mom, were you… have you killed anyone recently?"

"Honestly, Sonic, what are you going on about? Are you disrespecting me? What an absurd question. Now you need to go back to sleep, you'll have a full day ahead."

Sonic looked out passed the window and at the night sky. A sliver of the moon was seen.

"_They were all dreams. But I don't think they were just that. It was a message. I know it."_

Sonic stood up and brushed himself off.

"I need to take a quick walk."

"Well alright."

Sonic exited his house and walked out of his house and into the beautiful night sky.

As Sonic left his house he realized that he was slightly trembling. He shook his body, and then sighed. "_If only I didn't have so many problems. So many unanswered questions."_

As started to slowly stroll down the streets of New Mobotroplis he tried to block out all of the disturbing images he had seen over the course of the last couple days. He felt the cool night breeze, gently sway against his spikes. The leaves gently and ever so gracefully fell from the surrounding trees. His pathway was well light under the New Mobotropolis street lamps. There was a sense of calm and collectiveness. For the first time in a while, Sonic was relaxed.

A few more moments passed, and then Sonic saw another figure walking towards him. The red deadlocks was a dead giveaway of his identity.

"Good evening Knuckles."


	14. Calm and Cool

Chapter 14: Calm and Cool

"Hey Sonic." Knuckles said in an unusually happy tone.

"Oookay red, hey." Sonic replied awkwardly. "Knuckles, I think it's time we talked about what has happened."

"About what are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean. Using the master emerald for transportation, guiding me along the special zone apparently, and trying to save me from that traitor Silver."

"I'm sorry dude, but I have no idea what you are referring to." Knuckles spoke, still keeping the same, cheery voice without any fluctuation in his voice.

"Knuckles, is there a reason you're talking funny."

"Sonic, I think it's just best if you…"

"Knuckles, stop acting so strange, or you're going to get a fist full of my knuckles."

"Sonic, I can't stop talking like this."

"What are you saying man, speak some plain old English."

"You really are a stupid fool," Knuckles said, making sure to maintain a friendly smile that quite contrasted to what he was saying. "Don't you realize that they're monitoring me?"

Sonic stepped closer toward Knuckles.

"Okay, keep talking."

"If I change my tone, they will find me. They will realize that I don't belong. He will be there."

"Who?"

"If I say, it will be too late."

"Darn Knuckles, you really have to learn to help people in easier ways."

"Now listen and listen well. Sonic, you are an idiot... I told you to get to the top of the island, not to jump off it. You have to go back. The super warp ring is still there, it's just hidden. Don't believe this New Mobotropolis crap for another second."

"Wait, you mean that…"

"Exactly, another phony stage. Another illusion. Once again you're being deceived."

Sonic let out a large groan. "So what do you purpose I do, leave now?"

"No," Knuckles voices rose a slight bit. Realizing his mistake, he composed himself once more. "That's too soon. For now, stay here, and try to pretend that this is real. You'll know when to escape."

"People always say that Knuckles, but to be honest, judging how things have been going for me, I don't think I'll being making the smartest of moves. I mean… Tails."

"I can't tell you how relived I am that you did that."

"What?" Sonic forgot about remaining clam. "You… you set me up? You wanted me to kill Tails. Knuckles, I swear that I'm going to…"

But Knuckles had already vanished. Sonic realized that from the moment of his outburst, Knuckles had started to run.

As Sonic was about to continue his walk, he felt a hand placed on his shoulder.

"Sonic dear, who were you talking to?" Said Bernadette.

Quickly speaking, Sonic called out, "It was no one. I was just yelling to myself, that's all."

"Well, if that's over, why don't you come back home. Your yelling had me worried."

"Okay."

Sonic began to walk back to his house, even more unsure of himself then when he had left.

As he got into bed once more, Sonic suddenly realized how tired he was. The moment his body made contact with the bed, he collapse. His eyes felt like heavy sandags. His arms and legs felt like rocks, he was unable to move. He stirred for a moment longer, then fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Sonic awoke abruptly.

"_I have to get out of here, now."_

Sonic crept out of bed, ever so quietly. He made sure that his feet gently and gracefully made contact with the floor, without a so much as a single, quiet movement. A few drops of sweat dripped down Sonic's face as he tiptoed across the room and slowly turned the knob. With just a little more noise than Sonic would have liked, the door was open and Sonic gracefully glided through the hall towards the front door. Suddenly, he heard a faint noise behind him, and swiftly turned around. There was nothing out of the ordinary to be seen, just the empty kitchen. Sonic finally made his way to the edge of his house, opened the door, and raced outside the house he once felt safe in.

Sonic first impression of New Mobotropolis was the bareness of the city. There was no one to be found, not a soul to be seen. Granted it was still early morning, for the sun had barely cracked open its view to let the first light stream in. There was a certain amount of peacefulness to the scene that Sonic just could not appreciate as his feelings were more troubled.

He sped through the city, never thinking of turning back, not wanting to endure the rest of the day in this once beloved city. As he reached the front gate, the figure of Nicole emerged.

"Sonic, what are you doing here?" questioned Nicole.

"I need to get out of here for a while, get some fresh air."

Nicole eyes squinted as she closely examined Sonic.

"Why do you have to leave? You plenty of room to roam about here in New Mobotropolis. Why be in unnecessary harm if you can avoid it?"

"uhhh…. Look Nicole, I just really want to meet up with Sally. Just let me out will you."

Finally, after a long pause, Nicole reluctantly opened the front gate, clearing the way for Sonic.

At the first sight of daylight, Sonic walked out of the city. He was outside the cold sickness of New Mobotropolis, and emerged into the warm basking light of freedom. As he ran through path leading to the forest, he let out a sign of relief, and continued on his way.

* * *

A single thought had been manifesting in Sonic's mind since he had woken up. One idea that drove him to rashly heed Knuckles warning and make a break for freedom. One blister of neural connection in the deep recesses of Sonic that lead him down this pace.

Currently, Sonic saw the outline of the Great forest, a place that once held his dearly beloved home. He scurried into the forests' opening that, when he had first come through the other way, had filled him with hope. As the clusters of trees surrounded him, Sonic impatiently went scanning about. He spent hours searching, looking for it. It, that thing that had so deeply concerned him. The item that was as blue as the morning sky. The treasured jewel that had started all the trouble.

No such luck; the search was in vain... And then he saw it. It came so close to eluding him, it was almost surreal. A tiny glimmer was seen from the corner of one of the trees. Sonic turned towards it, bend down, and sure enough it was there, starring him right there in the face, "_The necklace."_


	15. Big, think big

Chapter 15: Big, think big…

It had all been a dream. No, not Sonic's adventure, but the dream of the night before that lead to the discovery of the hidden necklace.

* * *

_Sonic was standing in a meadow. Grass slightly blew with the breeze as far as Sonic could see. Everything sawed back and forth, melodically; almost soothingly. Everything else just blurred away from Sonic's perception. The sky was a beautiful emerald color, not a cloud in sight. Everything was peaceful, safe, calm. Until… the shaking began. Violent shaking that made all the grass curl down, almost as if in a cowardly defense. A patch of the grass started to wilt, wither, and die. The patch of brownish goop that once had harbored life was __no more than a foot wide and long_. From within the patch, a figure emerged. Slowly, its head became visible, and then the rest of the body followed. As the figure completely emerged, the breeze died, and an awkward silence was felt throughout this land. In front of Sonic was a blue Nerb. It was not a shade that Sonic could identify with. It almost looked like…

"_Sonic." It whispered in his thoughts_

"_Yes," _Sonic said, dreamily, not focused on the unusual Nerb before him.

"_A warning, a messanger of peace."_

"What do you need, need, need…" Sonic echoed, his voice felt different and distant.

"_Look at me. Focus yourself. You're dreaming, but I bring forth a message not meant for the subconscious alone."_

Suddenly, the world stood still, and everything started to focus. Sonic quickly blinked, and his vision was crystal clear.

"Thanks, I think. So what gives? What do you want?"

"_It isn't what I want, It's what you need to do."_

"Look, if you really want to help, just get me home." Sonic said, quickly losing interest in the Nerb.

"_We…. Rather I have been helping you. I'll give you a little help, an extra push."_

"I'll bite, what do you have?" he said, eying the Nerb for any hidden motives.

"_A riddle, a poem, a statement to help you understand better." _Then the Nerb closed his eyes and began to muttered something to himself.

Sonic leaned in to hear what he was saying, but just then, a burst of energy was released from the Nerb that sent Sonic to his feet. Next, quicker then Sonic could process, all the grass started to die, until the land looked like a mucky pile of lifeless grass corpses. The Nerb's body grew taller and taller. His eyes curled to the back of his head and turned a fiery yellow. His skin transformed from blue, to completely black. He rose until he was tall enough so that it seemed he could touch the sky. Hundreds of feet above Sonic, his voice cried:

"___Beware necklace, but keep it close. Thrice they meet, once in the forest, once in the home of the lost, once in ring under the dead, and his plans shall demise. Fail not, or your hearts second will fall to ruin, as well as His soul_."

Sonic's mouth began to open, but closed it. Poundering the statement for a moment more he cried upward:

"What the heck is that supposed to mean. I wanted answers not a stinking riddle."

"_ENOUGH!_ _THE FIRST WILL BE FOUND IN THE GREAT FOREST, YOU MUST GO NOW!_" The Nerb clapped his hand, and Sonic's vision turned white…

* * *

Sonic came too, shaking his head, as he realized he shouldn't dilly dally thinking about his dreams.

"_Well I guess since I found necklace, I've got two more items left. So is what are the other ones?"_

Sonic started to pace around through the forest, deep in thought. He placed his hands on a tree to rest, but stumbled when a loud thud was heard along with a quick shake. Then a loud clicking sound echoed throughout the trees. It was a sound that almost seemed like gears grinding against one another, some sort of lever or switch had been activated. After hearing a few more continuous thumps, Sonic's turned in the direction of New Mobotropolis, where the noise seemed to be originating from.

As Sonic cleared the forest, his mouth dropped a little. In front of him was New Mobotropolis as it started to rise from above the ground. Slowly, but not slowly enough for Sonic's liking, the huge city began to inch up in height. Several mechanical arms seemed to be attached to the bottom of the city, pointed at the bottom. As the city rose to its full height of over fifty feet, Sonic just watched in awe. The domed top of this creature, which contained New Mobotropolis, began to be sealed up with steel, until it covered the entire city. Then, several small holes began to appear along the edge of the locked up city. A liquid began to slowly ooze out from the hole; it was lava. The lava dug deep throughout the earth below the once fair city. The lava was being dumped only in ground surrounding this mechanical machine, and under it, the ground started to dissolve in its presence. Finally, the giant legs attached to the city retracted, until the city lay at the bottom of the lava-covered ground.

"What the…" Sonic began to whisper out, but it was not quite finished.

Then the steel surrounding the city turned yellow, until a faint, yet distint outline of a drawing was seen. It was just the bottom of a face, with a wide grinned smile. Sonic knew what it meant.

"sssssssssss" came a noise coming from New Mobotropolis.

As Sonic slowly back away, careful not make any noise, a large silver hand shot out of the dome, and grabbed Sonic. All of a sudden, a small shell surrounded the hand, and Sonic was now trapped in a small spherical shell, much like an egg grape in design. Sonic pushed against the edge of the glass, but it would not budge. The ball started to drift back towards New Mobtropolis, as Sonic frankly punches the glass, hoping for it to budge. All of a sudden, as Sonic gave one last push, the ball shattered, and Sonic was free once more. Looking on the ground, along with the shards of glass, was a small little ninja star.

Without another moment of hesitation, Sonic began sprinting back towards the woods.


	16. Revealed

Chapter 16: Revealed

It was back. Standing in front of Sonic, no more than a few feet from the tip of his nose it stood. With its familiar curves, its familiar tilted angle, it stood before him; he had never been happier to see it. While still in a deathly looking position, like a moldy apple on a warm summer day, the mysterious tree that had once brought Sonic to the special zone was standing in front of him once more. After searching for less then an hour, he had finally relocated this once hidden tree.

"_I guess I have to go back."_

Sonic placed his hand of the tree, and his world became white. Everything was swirling in his head… and then he was back on the island, back in the exact same spot he had left. There was, however, a minor change to the scenery. The land that once held pools, mansions, and even weeds was now compeletly barren. Not a single creature, not even a Nerb, could be seen as far as Sonic could see. It wasn't so much of the stillness that bothered Sonic, it was more of a twisted feeling in his gut.

"_Well played Sonic, you made it back." _A cruel, mocking voice was coming from within Sonics head, much similar to the one he had heard in the mansion.

"Hey, get out of my head. Leave me be. I just want to leave this place and go home!"

"_Well, that wouldn't be much fun, now would it."_

"Is this a sick game to you? Show yourself."

"_But don't you see, I already have. Many times right in front of your little blue face, only you weren't clever enough to figure it out."_

"Why?" Sonic cried out, not understanding where the voice was going, or why it was in his head.

"_Why you may ask, why? Why would I want to take Mobius' greatest hero out of the equation? You really shouldn't ask such naïve questions."_

"Naïve, naïve? I been through enough tricks already. I just can't take anymore? Just tell me the truth."

"_The truth? The truth is, it was fairly simple to manipulate everyone. They all played right into my hand. "_

"Who played into your hands?" Sonic searched around, desperate to find someone, some creature, anything.

"_He he. Really it is Naugus who did most the work for me. You see it was Naugus plan all along to make the special zone into a weapon…"_

Then, all of a sudden, images started to flash before Sonic's eyes. It was the memory of another, of the mysterious voice perhaps, witnessing Naugus actions. He first saw Naugus going into the special zone with all the chaos emeralds and defeating Feist. Then the scene changed as he was now in New Megaopolis. In there, he saw Naugus emerging outside with an unconscious Eggman and Snively, and throwing them into some unknown chamber. Then, Naugus started to take machines that Eggman had created, including some old badniks. Using the power of the emeralds, he controlled their every whim. Next Sonic saw himself and Tails, running towards New Megaopolis. In an out of body experience, Sonic saw himself falling for the chili dog trap, but this time, instead of Tails saving him and defeating Eggman, Sonic saw a different story. A mist came over both Sonic and Tails. They gasped for air, but then ultimately they fell to the floor unconscious. Then he saw Naugus emerge from the shadows and picked both of them up. The scene changed once more as he found himself back in the special zone. As all the emeralds were in Naugus possession, he saw the special zone being changed at its very core. Naugus raised his hand and black ooze dripped up from Sonic's brain. The ooze began to take form, into the molds of Tommy, Sir Connery, and all the other horrors Sonic had seen.

"_He's been manipulating me all this time. Playing with my emitions and dark thoughts." _Sonic thought in awe as the vision flashed back into reality, and Sonic once again saw the surroundings of the island.

"_So you see, since Naugus realized that you were his biggest threat, and since all his other pitiful attempts to destroy you had failed, he thought it would be fun to watch you fall into madeness as he opened you into your own worst nightmares. It just was fortunate that this was exactly the sort of thing I needed to finish you." _Shouted the voice, in a tone that would have come with a smirk had he had a face Sonic could see.

"Then why did you destroy Naugus. Why did you interfere?"

"_Well I wasn't through making you suffer. I wanted you to feel real pain, the kind that can make a even the most loyal men betray their ways. I wanted you to rot, like I had to endure I planned on keeping you there forever, until you were so mad that you finished yourself off."_

"Where, where did you…"

"_The fake New Mobotroplis. By making you believe that you were back home, and that everyone you ever cared about hated you, I knew it would drive you completely over the edge. But somehow," _the voice turned colder and even harsher, "_you managed to find a way back on this island. You figured out that it was a fake. You ruined all my planning. And for that, you will pay the ultimate price."_

"Well, I'm sorry for not going crazy. You think you have control of everything... Haw! Well hear this. As soon as I find you, I'm going to rip you to little bits until there is nothing left you. You here? This time I won't hold back." Sonic screamed out to the empty island.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." A laugh, only not in Sonic's head, was heard close by. Sonic squinted, trying to make out who it was. Then Sonic gasped, and staggered back.

"_No…"_

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter. The whole thing is 20 chapters so their are only 4 more left to publish. For those of you who haven't commented on my fanfiction, feel free. I would love as much feedback as I can get, whether it's compliments or criticism . So write back what you thought.


	17. The worst returns

Chapter 17: The worst return

Tails.

It was Tails that stood in front of Sonic. Everything about him was fine, normal even. He looked like the same old innocent Tails that Sonic had known for all those years. He didn't even have a creepy smile. Just a laid back, friendly smile that was a little cocky.

"No…no…not again." Sonic mumbled out talking a few steps forward. "Your just not real." Sonic turned his head away in shame and disgust. "I know it was all my fault. I kil… I killed you, but please, I beg of you. Just rest in peace, don't haunt me any longer."

Tails took a few steps closer to Sonic, and he cocked his head a little left. "I am not Tails."

"You're not? Then who…"

He cocked his head a little right. "I am also Tails."

"Aughh. Enough games!"

"I am the Tails you once knew, and I am also not the Tails you once held dear. I am real, yet I don't really belong. I am the master behind it all. The figure behind the curtain."

"You coward!" Sonic screamed. "How dare you try and degrade the image of Tails."

"But don't you see." Tails sat down and crossed his legs, "I am the same Tails you knew. I am not a copy or reflection but the real thing. The only thing that changed is the essence of my personality."

"But I killed…"

"You can't kill me." Tails calmly state, his grin getting wider.

"The blood, it was on my hands. I know I…"

"Normally you would have killed. His flesh is weak and his mentality is puny. I could not withstand that kind of blow. But because I have me, I am invincible."

"Oh god… what have I done to you? Tails, I'm sorry, I never…" Sonic felt like but giving up, but a small part of him still clung to the fact that Tails was still kind of alive. "….I… me… who are you?"

"I once had a name." Tails sighed, but with a cold mocking tone to his voice. "Who am I? Once, long ago I was an experiment for a crazed scientist. He wanted to create the most vile, evil thing he could think of to rid the world of you. But alas, he felt like I was too weak, that I could too easily be broken just because my outer skin was made of cloth. Well, he left me to rot in Mobotropolis." Tails voice rose in anger. "Where I would have stayed, had it not been for one little mishap. You nuked the city Sonic, a while back, and it almost killed me. But in a way," he mocked cruelly "I should be thanking you."

"How so?" Sonic got nervous, as with each step Tails got closer, only he wasn't walking. It was almost unnoticeable, but he was floating just above the ground.

"The blast, combined with the radiation level, was enough to almost destroy me. But my core being remained. The dark magic that once had been used to create me saved me, but I was reduced to a mere whips of energy. A mere shadow, a shade, just a husk of my former self." As Tails floated closer and closer to Sonic, the ground beneath him blackened. It was the same color as the oozing black puss that had been covered on Sir Connery and the Nerbs. "But it was Tails, sweet sweet Tails that played right into my hand. I hitched a ride on Naugus, who changed into Silver as soon as he deposited you in the special zone. While you were off talking to Silver, you left Tails defenseless. Just think, none of this would have happened if you had just stayed with Tails."

Sonic emotions began to rise, and he felt his fists clench.

"That stupid kid, he fought more then I realized he was capable. Fortunately, I had managed to convince him it was Shadow that had attacked him, so you wouldn't suspect otherwise. But once you made contact with that tree, and you and Tails passed out, it was easy for me to finally win his body and claim it as my own."

"So Knuckles betrayed me too. I…"

"Knuckles was helping you, but he fell into my plan too. I don't suspect that he even truly knew about my involvement. I was concerned he might be a problem, but after Naugus revealed himself, he did away with Knuckles for me."

Sonic was about to respond, when a loud, screeching noise emitted from Tails. As Sonic clamped his hands over his ears, he realized that the shake was similar to the one he had felt when he first arrived in the forest. All of a sudden Tails stopped speaking, and then his head twisted and he looked straight at Sonic.

"And now," His eyes widened, as wide as watermelon. His mouth began to salivate a little, with a crooked grin on his face. "I will rip you apart, until there is nothing but bones."

As he lunged at Sonic, Tails body started evaporating as he revealed a twisted black figure. His face was the still Tails, but his body was crooked. His arms stretch several feet and the nails were pointed, stained a sharp red color. His body was covered with a checkered pattern of black and yellow, that looked unevenly sewn into Tails, and bits of blood seeped through. Tails, head worst of all was contorted. His expression looked like he was chocking, as his face was crooked and off center. His eyes were unproportional and his mouth shook violently, like his tongue was being ripped out of his body. The pained look of Tails head made Sonic hesitate, almost like he wanted to reach out and help him. But because of the pause, it was too late for Sonic to move out of the way. Tails leaped on sonic, and stabbed his claws straight into his belly.

"Feel the pain!" Screamed the creature. He jerked his hands around, twisting his claws into Sonic's stomach. An immidiant wave of pain rushed over Sonic. Then another round of pain, hitting harder, until Sonic was losing vision and focus. He thought the end was near. He waited and waited for his suffering to end and the pain to go away, but it did not. It kept coming and coming.

"AHHHHH!" Sonic screamed in pain, as he felt burning like never before. His entire insides were eating away at him, but they would not stop. The pain kept coming and coming until Sonic could bear no more.

"Please," he screamed out pathetically "just finish me already. Kill me!"

The only response Sonic could hear was the cold crackling voice of the creature who vaguely resemble d Tails.

"You shall suffer, forever. You shall never rise up again Sonic, you are through." The laughter of Tails banged around Sonic's head, as the pain twirled with the dark words of Tails.

Still it continued, as the pain started to spread throughout the rest of the body. Every pain receptor in Sonic screamed out to his brain. Every nail, every eyebrow, every bit of skin stung like concentrated shots all over him.

"I… I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! So many lies, so much pain, all the loss; I can't handle all this. I don't understand. It's just too much… It's just too much" Sonic sobbed out.

The pain continued, unmercifully, until a voice spoke out into the distance. "_Stop." _The echo of the voice seemed to waiver in the air a few seconds, before it finally settled.

"Who…" Cocked Tails, as his eyes twisted around his body, while the rest of him stayed put.

"_You may be more powerful, but you are outnumbered_. _Surrendered now!"_

"heh, you pathetic insignificant nothings. You are nothing more then dust."

"_You overestimate your abilities. Prepare yourself."_

And at that moment, a single figure emerged into Sonic's blurred vision.

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter. The whole thing is 20 chapters so their are only 3 more left to publish. For those of you who haven't commented on my fanfiction, feel free. I would love as much feedback as I can get, whether it's compliments or criticism . So write back what you thought.


	18. The Duel

Chapter 18: The Duel

A greenlike angel emereged from the darkness that clotted Sonic's world. At last, a glimer of hope entered his battered down brain. The Nerbs had arrived.

"_You think that you control us. You control nothing." _Cried out the lone green Nerb.

"But can't you see, I control everything. I have mastermind this entire plan. You are fools. You Nerbs have served your purpose, and I have no more use for you."

"_Enough of this. It ends now. CHARGE!" _Cried the Nerb as he rushed towards Tails. Behind him, the army of Nerbs, composed of several thousands of them, charged into battle. When they were just about five feet away from Tails, something happened. Tails opened his mouth several feet wide, and he blew out a red, pasty ooze that shot out at the Nerbs. As it made contact with the Nerbs' skin, a loud and sudden streak was heard, and then the Nerbs vanished. Wave after wave of Nerbs charged, but Tails could counter every move they made.

After what seemed like hours, the Nerb army finally had flanked him on the left and right. Tails shot out his arms in both direction as his hands started to glow a deep blue shade. Then the eyes of a hundred Nerbs on either side of Tails turned a similar color, then purple, then brown, and finally black. The darkness spread throughout the rest of the body, until, the Nerbs started to shrivel and they were nothing more than ashes. Suddenly Tails vanished.

"Where…" one of the Nerbs began to say, but then stopped. None of them could do anything but stare right in front of them. Just passed the edge of the island was a floating figure. It was several hundred feet long with an enormous head. On it was Tails face, only black spikes were poking out the backside of his head and through his eyes. Then the body started to gag, and blood started to trickle from the veins of his eyes onto the island. As each of the enormous drops hit the island, they began meshing together to create an enormous wave of blood. It crashed down unto the island, and washed away half of the remaining off the Nerb army. Their pained cries were heard for a moments, then dissipated. Their voices still rung in their conrade's head.

And then... the fury rose. The pained and disgusted expressions blossomed on the mouthes of the Nerbs until the seething anger rose within them. They had had enough; it was time to fight back. And from their faces came a shriek, a loud wailing shriek that was echoed across the entire army of the remaining Nerbs. Their voices joined together as the bond that connected them rose more and more, and with it their strength and confidence grew to. It filled their souls with energy and gave them a pulsing sensation. Each individual Nerb slowly raised their hand, and began chanting a melody. As their eyes glowed fiery with heart and soul, cubical objects began emerging from the palms of the Nerbs. Inside each cube was a white speck of lighting, one that danced around it cage, hungry to be released. And as the cube swelled in size, so did the electricity. There was stillness in the air for a moment, and then a loud smack. All at once, the Nerbs slammed their hands together, and hundreds of shots of light exploded from their hands and shot out towards the beast. As they got closer and closer to him, the thousand streaks of light converged together to one pinnacle point, and faster than anyone could blink, they crashed into the belly of the beast. A loud crackle was heard, and Tails roared, stumbling backwards. Not just from the pain, but from the shear surprise that their attacks could weaken him.

As Tails got back to his feet, there, sprouted on his face had grown a deranged, murderous look. His mouth opened, as if was about to speech, but the Nerbs were one step ahead. For they had already formed into a circle began their next attack. As they summoned their powers, a giant whip emerged from above the army. The whip was much bigger than all the Nerbs combined. As dark as the night, the belt was jagged as spikes covered the entire weapon. Below this whip, the Nerbs had all their hands stretched out, symbolically holding the weapon. They leaned back, and then shot forward, like a wave crashing against the shores of land. The belt plunged straight towards Tails, but then suddenly halted. The hand of the giant creature grasped the whip firmly inside. With a wicked smile showing from this face, he yanked the belt back. Surprisingly, the Nerbs' magical attachment to the whip was too strong, and almost all of them flew straight up in the air towards Tails in the direction of the belt. As they were about to make contact with Tails, his stomach opened up to reveal a black abyss. The Nerbs fell in, and weren't seen again.

Now, only a hundred Nerbs remained. Each looked bruised and battered, exhausted and almost deprived of energy. Their faces showed it all: The suffering they had endured, the punishment they had to have overcome, and the betrayal of a hero they had once trusted. Now, a mere fraction of what this great army once was still remained. It was desperate, the times were tough, and there was only one option left for them to use.

And so, with their final attack, with one last hurrah, the brave few Nerbs charged up towards the edge of the island, running into the heart of the enemy. Fists were held up high in the air, a wild yet inconspicuously concentrated and coordinated attack fell into place, as they moved together to form a twisted line. In grand harmony, they cupped their hands together and placed their thumbs at the tip of their foreheads. A deep wrinkle was seen in each Nerbs' forehead, as their concentration bound together with oneness, unifying their attack. With every last spark of energy that was left within them, they summoned one last magical spell. All around slowly at first, but more and more steadily, a blue energy field started to surround the Nerb and the area around them. Within the field, a mixture of all the elemental powers; earth, water, fire, and air were forming together. They meshed together until nothing could be seen of the Nerbs except a blue ring filled with fiery red and white colored energy... Then stillness swept the island for just a moment and... "BOOM!" A concentrated wave of energy blasted from the bubble, as all the energy and magic twisted around one another. They shot out with such passion, with such power, that everything else became insignificant. Its violent path seemed to never end, but eventually, it crashed directly into Tails. A flash of bright light shined over all the island and special zone, and for once shining moment, the dark and dreary world blazed a beautiful light color. But as soon as it came, the moment passed, and everything settled back down. Tails had vanished; he was nowhere to be found.

And in the faces of those Nerbs, a wave of relief surged through them. Most of them collapsed from exhaustion and lack of energy, but... but a select few remained on their kneed and stared triumphantly into the sky, for they knew they had won. And for those few moments, the Nerbs felt that everything was perfect.

But like all good things, events quickly changed. A single voice rang over the island, echoing in every direction. "He he he he. Bravo, you managed to surprise me a little. I guess you deserve an award for making a scratch on me."

Not too far of the island, the darkness rippled for a moment, and then the solid image of the giant Tails emerged once more. He looked as fine as ever, bearing a small black spot nears the top of this head.

"You see, with Naugus gone, I control this world. You cannot defeat me. I am invisible. You have all overstayed your welcome. It is time for you all to die."

Then, several yards from where he was an hour back, a voice coughed out. "He he," Sonic chuckled from near the ground, limping towards the giant, still clutching his stomach with pain. "You didn't figure it out, did you? I won."

"What? Surely you jest. I am the one who have all the cards, I am the one who has decived you, I control everything."

"But don't you need this." Sonic grinned. Slowly, he rose to his feet and opening his palm, he revealed a Silvr ring that Tails had once urge d Sonic to wear.

"N… How did you get that?"

"You really aren't very observant are you? I should have realized you still held onto it all this time. I figured out what the riddle meant. You see, I had a dream, and a Nerb once gave me a riddle about two stones and a ring. But there was more to it. He explained that in order to control the special zone, you need to hold on to the three necklaces. You see the necklaces were part of Naugus weapons, and you knew that whoever controlled the necklaces would control the special zone. I figured out that you cursed those necklaces individually so it a person only put on one, then you would have control of them… like… Tails…" He faltered for a second, then rose back his courage. "but should all three come together, well you wouldn't want that. So you hid them. While the Nerbs distracted you, I did a little searching, and found that the mansion was back. And guess what I found at the top." Sonic proudly displayed his hand that revealed the two necklaces. Then he fell backwards , crouching in pain.

"You called that won? Ha! You didn't get the ring. And now I shall end this…" As Tails said this, his giant hand hovered over the island for a minute and he lowered it a few inches. Suddenly, he shot down his hand, and it smashed against the island.

There was dead silence, excluding the low chuckle of Tails, across the island.

Then, out of nowhere, Tails hand began to shake. It shook violently, until the entire island was vibrating uncontrollably. His hand shattered, and a loud scream was released from the giant creature.

Below him was Sonic, healthy and unharmed, holding up the two necklaces… and the warp ring.

"The tree," Sonic grinned, and looked back at the old dying tree to where it had all started. "I knew I had a gut feeling for a reason. Plus, it's the only dead thing left of this island."

"NOooooo… It's impossible…. I…. who…."

"Looks who's not so confident now. Naugus, Nerbs, and even you. You all tried to trick me, you all tried to deceived me, but you couldn't do it. You can't beat me, and you won't harm anyone ever again. You will be DESTROYED!"

And with all this might, with all Sonic's heart and soul, he gave once last burst of speed, jumped off the island and shot out towards Tails, and threw out his hands, with all three items clenched in his tightly wound fist. As Sonic made contact with Tails, a large screech was heard everywhere.

"AHHHHHughhhhh. SSSJjkeazxcxjx…."

The beast then sprouted black-like pus all over his body which spread quickly, until he was just a blob with thousands of black bumps. With one last screech he exploded, shooting a black wave in every direction. As Sonic fell below, his vision turned a fiery red, and then white….

Sonic stirred, and then slowly opened his eyes. It took a while for him to focus, but eventually his eyes got used to the light and he took in his surroundings. As he looked around, he realized that for the first time, he wasn't appearing in the Great Forest or the island; he was back in New Megaopolis.

He slowly got up and brushed himself off. His mouth was hung open just a tad.

"I'm… back?" he said out loud in sheer amazement. He went up to the closest building, and put his hands on it.

"_Well it's not some sort of hologram. But… is it over… and…"_ His knuckles clenched together and he gritted his teeth. A gust of wind fell over New Megaopolis that took Sonic by surprise. As he took one last look behind him, he started to run off towards New Mobotropolis.

He was just about take his last step to get off of Eggman's based when, a quiet, high voice rang in Sonic's head. He could barely make it out, but it was clear enough.

"s..s…Sonic?" Cried out the young voice.

Sonic stood still for a moment. "_Noo.. It couln't be… why..?" _He thought. "_Maybe it's not really…"_ Sonic decided not to dewel on this, and swloly turned back towards the city. As he turned the corner around a building, a figure was lying on the floor, right in front of him.

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter. The whole thing is 20 chapters so their are only 2 more chapters left to publish, just 2 more! For those of you who haven't commented on my fanfiction, feel free. I would love as much feedback as I can get, whether it's compliments or criticism . So write back what you thought.


	19. Back again, once more

Author's note: Before reading this chapter, if you read Ch. 18 in the first couple of days after it was submitted, I have added an extra part of the chapter (about 1,000 words). It doesn't change the plot, but makes the Nerb fighting sequence better (I think). Take a look if you like or just continue with Ch. 19. Enjoy.

* * *

Ch. 19 – Back again, once more

Tails was lying right in front of Sonic.

"Sonic…" mumbled Tails, still lying on the ground. While Tails appeared to be exhausted, there was not any noticeable bruises or injuries.

"I…" Sonic began to say, stepping closer to Tails. Then he took a step back. "You're not real, you can't… you… I kil…." Sonic put his hand over his head and sat down beside him.

"Sonic?" Tails said gaining strength, trying to crawl up towards Sonic. "What, what are you talking about?"

"You're not here, it isn't you. It can't be." Sonic felt a tear starting to form in his eye.

"I'm… I'm here. What's the matter? I thought we were fighting Eggman."

"What do you mean, what about the special zone?" Sonic lowered his hand at looked at Tails, noticing the perplexed look on the fox's face.

"Sonic, are you okay? I...I was watching you grab a chili dog, which obviously was a trap, and now all of a sudden I'm on the floor."

"You mean," Sonic said, looking at Tails, "You're real…?"

"Well who do you think I am, an evil twin of Tails?" Tails chuckled a little. "Why are you looking at me like Sonic. Are you sure you're okay?"

"So you say that you don't remember anything? Not even the Nerbs?"

"The Ner… have you lost it? We haven't seen them for years. I wonder how they're doing anyway."

"Fine, fine," Sonic quickly, eager to change the topic. "I think that you are him… but I know I…" Sonic thought quietly for a moment, reflecting on all the recent events. When his thoughts turned to Tails, and what he had done, looking at Tails dead body, he thought back to the bitter pain and sorrow he felt. Then reached out hugged Tails.

"It's just… It's glad to see you again…. I think it's you. I really hope…"

"Sonic, are you sure you're okay? Since when did you act so emotional. What happened to way past cool?" Tails commented, not out of disgust for Sonic's behavior, but only because it was so out of character for him to do so.

Sonic let go of Tails. Tails was about to comment on something, when Sonic interrupted.

"KNUCKLES!" He exclaimed to himself out loud.

"um Knuckles, he's in New Mobotropolis. What do you want from him?"

Without paying any attention to Tails, Sonic sped off back to New Mobotropolis.

"Hey, wait up Sonic. Sonic!" Tails cried out, still a bit confused about the abnormality of Sonic.

Longer then Sonic would have liked, though not truly as long as before, Sonic arrived at New Mobotropolis.

Sonic dwelled on his surrounding as he approached the familiar front gate of New Mobotropolis. "_Maybe… maybe this is real. I mean, I think I destroyed that beast. But after all that I've encountered, how can I be sure I'm home. Please, please, let me be back. I don't want to deal with this anymore. A clear enemy, fighting Eggman, that's different. It's not so darn mysterious, I just want things to go back..." _

Breaking his train of thoughts was a holographic image of Nicole that projected in front of him. In a matter of seconds, Tails caught up, but was completely out of breath.

"Next… time…. tell me… where you want to head off… before running off…." Tails spat out.

"Oh, heh, sorry about that Tails." Sonic laughed nervously.

There was an awkward pause that swept over the area, until Nicole decided to intervene.

"So, Sonic, back so soon from the mission?"

"Back so... what are you talking about Nicole? We must have been gone at least a week."

Nicole looked at Sonic like he had smacked his head against something.

"But, you left for New Megaopolis only a few hours ago."

"A few hou… but, wasn't anyone worried about us? Surely, after you realized we went missing…"

"Went missing? According to my calculations, you just had enough time to go to New Megaopolis and come back, with practically no time in between to accomplish anything."

"That's what I've been trying to tell him," added Tails "he's been riled up about something soon after we arrived. Granted I did pass out, but I'm really worried."

"Passed out? When did this happen." Questioned Nicole. "Maybe both of you need to see Dr. Quack."

"No really, I'm fine. Look could I just see Knuckles." Sonic said evasively

"I don't really see how Knuckles will solve anything, but be my guest." The hologram of Nicole disappeared, and the front entrance to New Mobotropolis was opened.

Sonic quickly ran inside and surveyed his surroundings. Everything seemed to be in place, all the buildings were they should be, and all the roads and paths matched his memory. _"Then again, so did it last time, and that didn't turn out so well._" Looking around, he finally spotted Knuckles. With a quick burst, even quicker then Sonic had anticipated, he leapt towards Kncukles, and smacked right into him.

"He watch it you..." Knuckles said as he then turned around. "Sonic? What are you doing back here so soon? What did you find out about Eggman?"

"Never mind that now. Tell me, is this real? Am I back in the right New Mobotropolis? Did I escape from the Special Zone?"

Knuckles looked behind Sonic and starred at Tails for some clue as to what Sonic was saying. Tails shrugged and so Knuckles turned his attention back to Sonic.

"I don't exactly know what's going on here, but how am I involved in this?"

"You mean you don't remember… I… helping me with the zone, and the chaos control… but Silver…" Sonic tried to say, but the words came out weirdly as he tried to blurt them out .

"What? Are you bonkers? You really got to lay off the midnight chili dogs." Knuckles signed at the sheer ludicrous of Sonic's behavior.

"When was the last time I saw you." Sonic looked Knuckles dead in the eye.

"Don't you recall, I was talking to you about places to search in New Megaopolis before you ran off. It only was a few hours ago. True blue, you are one crazy hedgehog." Knuckles turned around and started to walk off, almost laughing at Sonic's hysterical tone.

"_I guess no one knows…_" Sonic thought, a lonely feeling swelling up within him. "_Maybe I just need to accept it."_

"Well, see you later Tails. I-I need to go clear my head."

"Okay Sonic." Tails said reluctantly. "Listen if you want to come talk to me, you know where I live. See ya."

And with that Tails left him.

Back in his own room that evening, Sonic climbed into his bed, about to go to sleep. As he started to close his eye, as his body eased up and the tension started to go away, Sonic heard a small tapping noise from his window. He yawned, stretched up and looked outside. When he saw him standing right outside, he jumped back and fell out of bed. Someone was waiting for him.

* * *

This is it you guys! Only one more chapter after this! How will it all get wrapped up? You'll just have to wait to find out. In the mean time, please review any or all of the chapters that you have read, but critique is the best way for me to know how I'm doing. Thanks.


	20. Closer at Midnight

Chapter 20: Closer at Midnight

Outside of Sonic's bed window stood Shadow the hedgehog. His dark colored skin nearly blended with the dark night sky, just barely visible to Sonic. Sonic starred back at him, expecting him to strike, but instead he simply said:

"Follow me."

"Can't this wait until mornin…." Sonic began rubbing his eyes when Shadow interrupted.

"I believe I have information that you would find usefull now."

"Well, what do you have?" Sonic spoke crankily.

"I would think you would like to have this conversatition elsewhere, perhaps outside New Motoropolis."

Sonic slowly nodded, then climbed out of his window. As he sped towards the edge of town, he was awoken by a deep uneasiness in his stomach. Shadow's words made Sonic worry, worry about something he had been questioning all day. Once they had left the city and were out in the open plains, Shadow suddenly stopped and faced Sonic.

"I think it's time that you got some answers."

"You mean?"

"Yes, what's really been happening."

"Oh no," groaned Sonic looking down to the ground. "Don't tell me, this New Mobotropolis is fake too?"

"No it's not. You're really back home." Shadow said cooly.

"It… it isn't another trap?" he state bewildred and suspicious.

"No your back, and I think it's over. At least, for a while now."

"What are you getting at?"

"Well maybe we should start from the beginning. You remember how after Tails was injured and Knuckles came to help you, it was because…"

"Hold it!" Sonic said, catching Shadow in the act. "How the heck did you know about that? You didn't…" Sonics eyes suddenly widened. "You!"

"You what? Will you relax Sonic. You're not even in the special zone anymore."

Bewildered, Sonic cried out "you were the one that hurt Tails, when it all happened. What were you up t…."

"Wait, will you listen for a moment? This is exactly why I became Knuckles."

"Became? What?" Sonic realized that he hadn't taken a breath in a while, and inhaled deeply. Shadow's temper began to rise in explaining his side of the story.

"Listen for a moment. Every ally that you met. Knuckles, that green Nerb, the blue Nerb, even Espio. They were all me. I've been trying desperately to help you for a while, in any way I could."

"Not that I'm not interested in HOW you could, but why did you keep changing forms."

"It was the only way to contact you. If I had stayed in one form, he would have been able to indentify me and terminate me from the special zone permately."

"Whose he? You mean that beast that acted like Tails."

Shadow looked like he was about to smack Sonic. He hesitated then took in a deep breath to relax. Calmer now, he replied "how about I just start at the beginning, Okay?"

"It all goes back several months. I had just returned from a mission from GUN, when I was taking a look around headquaters. Hope came running up to me, saying that she had found something interesting in one of GUN's files. I didn't think about it too much until yesterday, when GUN received word that there had been some activity in Megatropolis. Weird don't you think? An area quarantined for being ground zero of a nuclear missile, and there are still signs of activity. Well I decided to have a little look around. But before I left, I looked into the book. I realized that it was one of Dr. Eggman's journals describing some of his early works. Who knows how GUN acquired it. Most of it was illegible or nonsense, but there was one project that really stuck out. Not only did it have the potential for great evil, it also incorporated a lot of mystical and magical elements that the Dr. wasn't know for dabbling in. After looking at his project more closely, I saw that he had already create this beast only…."

"Only what?" Sonic said eagerly, truly determined to find out.

"Only Eggman decided to lock up the project. I think even he saw it as a potential threat, something that he in all his madness couldn't control."

"Well, what was it."

"He named it… it was called, project Tail Doll."

"Why the heck did he name it that?"

"Because it was merely supposed to be a doll, just a seemingly ordinary doll made of cloth, looking like Tails, that could easily sneak past enemy line. It really seems crazy, I mean why would he make something like that. It's so… impractical. In any case, to give this creature life and power, he used his secret weapon."

"Which was… a chaos emerald?"

"Heh, no not the chaos emeralds, but the Ancient Onyx. Eggman made a little note to say how pleased he was able to steal it again. He then somehow instilled its dark powers into the Tails doll to give it life. It just need a lot energy for it to be complete… but then he decided it would become too powerful and locked it up."

"Where it stayed until it was hit by the nuke and…" Sonic gasped.

"And was imbued by almost limitless power from all the energy that was given off. The reason I saw the activity in the city was because it was…"

"… actually Tails Doll starting up his plan." Sonic said, starting to piece the puzzle up together.

"Exactely. He had been waiting to start his plan, and probably started since Naugus set everything up so perfectly for him."

"But," Sonic glared at Shadow, "you still haven't explained what happened with Tails."

Shadow turned a little bit red "This part gets a little complicated. It's my fault actually, I probably should have prevented it. After figuring out it was Tails doll who was in motion at Megatropolis, I followed his trail that lead to the entrance of the special zone that I later found out Naugus had created. From what I had read, I realized that it would be suicidal to go in directly to confront Tails Doll. It was fortunate I had found a sol Emerald recently, and hadn't given it to Blaze yet, since it was the only way I could project myself in there without getting trapped. When I entered the Great Forest and saw Tails being attached by Tails Doll, I sort of hesitated from attacking since I couldn't get a good shot. Tails only noticed me and not Tails Doll after he fled, so naturally he thought I had been the one attacking him. Once he started screaming for help, I knew you wouln't believe what I said any more so I disgused my self as Knuckles using the power of the Sol Emerald. It was really quite interesting to see how much power you could really take from that place. After Naugus thought he figure out how I was getting my power from, no thanks to you…"

"He he, sorry. But I said the master emerald. Anyway you have to admit, I was going through a lot. You could have just said everything right there, all the mystery didn't mean anything…"

"Except if you knew too much, Tails Doll would have realized that you were getting outside sources and would hunt me down. Since Tails Doll controlled everything in the Special Zone, I would have been an easy target, epecailly since I was only a progection. It actually was fortunate you said that I was using the master emerald. You saying that gave me the opportunity to pretend that Naugus had me eliminated. While fooling both Naugus and Tails Doll, I still had access to the special zone through the sol emerald… And I needed all the information I gave you to be vague enough that Tails Doll would believe you were figuring it out on your own. That's why I had to feed you that riddle at the end. He realized too late that I was still there and had known all along. Thankfully, you still understood enough, and you ended up acting at the perfect time."

With that stament both Sonic and Shadow went silent, taking in the nighttime of New Mobotropolis. The a familiar cool breeze blew past them, that gracefully moved around Sonic. Finally, Sonic broke the pause.

"So what now?"

"Well, what do you mean? You finished Tails Doll, or at least sealed him up. When you used the two stones and the ring, you subconsciously sealed up the Special Zone. It's over."

"But Tails... how could he have survived. You know I... I..."

"Look Sonic, when you gave that deadly blow to Tails, he was under the influence of Tails Doll, who in the special zone was invincible. So basically, Tails was still unharmed. When you used the power of the three magic objects, you not only sealed the special zone, but also split the spirit of Tails Doll from Tails. You saved him."

Sonic gazed into Shadows eyes, then looked back down.

"So what happens with Tails Doll? And Naugus for that matter?"

"Trapped in the Special Zone? Well, without his artifacts to control the special zone, I'm guessing the remaining Nerbs are going to want some vengence. There will be a timeless battle that will rage on between the Nerbs and Tails Doll. I'm happy to say that as the green Nerb, I was able to inspire them to rebel. You know, the Green Nerb did tell you that he was going to help, even if you didn't know it... As for Naugus, well... even I don't know. I never got the chance to find out if he died. There is the slim chance that he escaped the Special Zone, I didn't worry to much about him. I guess only time will tell."

Another pause of silence.

"But then why did I have to come down here."

"Because there was no reason for this to be let out to the public. Since there is no impending threat, why cause a commotion."

"When they said no time had passed..." Sonic trailed off.

"Listen, Tails Doll warped the time so that it was incredibly slow compared to what was the outside. So to everyone else besides us, no time had really passed."

"But if someone tries to get into the special zone?"

"They can't, or at least, they won't be for a very long time. It's not something to really be concerned with. With your subconscience closing of the special zone, there's no way I can think of to open in again."

"So that's it? I just go home pretend like this never happened?"

"Exacetly. I know it's asking a lot, but it's better if they don't know anything, unless something else should ever arise. You have to move past this. Tails is back, and the evil has been vanquished. You won."

"Well, that wasn't the most satisfying victory." Sonic said depressingly "I could have lost him, I really thought I had."

Shadow put his hand on Sonic. "I know what's like to lose someone close to you, believe me. It gets better with time, you'll see." Shadow broke out into a small smile that gave Sonic just a little bit of hope.

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around."

"I guess you will."

"Well… goodnight then…"

"Goodnight Sonic. CHAOS CONTROL." And within a blick of an eye, Shadow vanished, leaving behind only a gust of wind and some dust.

Sonic decided to walk around the plains for a little while. He reflected on everything that had happen. From his walk into the forest, to the death of Tails, and finally to what Shadow had explained to him. He walked around for what seemed like hours, going nowhere in particular. Just wherever the wind took him.

Finally, as he slowly strolled back to New Mobotropolis, Sonic noticed now that everything was calmer, that it was all settling back to the way it was. No, it would never be the same for him. Those memories he had witness over what seemed like a very long week would haunt him for a long time, if not forever. Sonic knew it wouldn't be easy moving on, yet, comforted by the fact that he was home again, with his best friend with him once more; for once in a long time, Sonic felt at peace.


End file.
